Mexican Federal Highway 3 (Carretera Federal 3) is a Federal Highway of Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. One segment connects Tecate

Tecate

Tecate is a small city in Baja California, Mexico and the municipal seat of Tecate Municipality. It is located on the border with Tecate, California, United States in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. There is a small port of entry betwixt the sister cities that serves as a calmer...

 (and California State Route 188 on the US-Mexico border) to Ensenada

Ensenada, Baja California

Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...

 in Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

. This segment ends at its junction with Mexican Federal Highway 1 at El Sauzal Rodriguez, just a little north of Ensenada. This segment of the highway is 112 kilometres (69.6 mi) long.

This segment of the highway is important because it shortens the distance between the Baja California peninsula and the interior of the country by providing a link with Mexican Federal Highway 2 without having to through Tijuana. It also connects to the people in Valle de Guadalupe

Valle de Guadalupe

Valle de Guadalupe may refer to:*Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California*Valle de Guadalupe, Jalisco*Valle de Guadalupe, Michoacán*Valle de Guadalupe, Querétaro...

, San Antonio de las Minas and Valle de Las Palmas

Valle de Las Palmas

Valle de las Palmas in English Palm Valley is located between two hamlets Espuela and Seco in the municipalities of Tijuana and Tecate, Baja California, Mexico...

.

A second segment of the highway, 196 kilometres (121.8 mi), begins at highway 1 in Ensenada and links Ensenada with Mexican Federal Highway 5

Mexican Federal Highway 5

Mexican Federal Highway 5 follows the northeast length of the state of Baja California from the US-Mexico border in Mexicali at the northern end to San Felipe in the south. The highway is entirely inside the municipality of Mexicali...

 near the east coast of the Baja California peninsula. Their junction in the town of El Chinero is 55 kilometres (34.2 mi) north of San Felipe, Baja California

San Felipe, Baja California

San Felipe is a town on the Gulf of California in the Mexican state of Baja California, 190 km south of the United States border and within the municipality of Mexicali. It also serves as a borough seat of its surrouding area....

. There is a military inspection station just south of the junction, where all passing vehicles in both directions are subject to search.