Penasco Recreation Company

Mexico's Copper Canyon Revisited!

It was over 15 years ago we took our last trip to the famed Copper Canyon of Mexico!

This year we had a group of 16 resident of Puerto Peñasco Sonora Mexico ask us to guide them on this magical tour.  They would be flying in from their summer homes in the USA to the little town of Los Mochis Sinaloa.  It seems simple but even getting to the starting point was a challenge after AeroMexico changed all of its routing at the last minute, forcing all of us to connect through Mexico City (way down there).  We were up to the challenge because the adventure to the canyons is so worth it.  Besides they say "getting there is half the fun"  So some of us landed in Los Mochis on Monday and a few landed on Tuesday morning.  Then we were off on a bus to the silver town of El Fuerte (the fort).

This is a beautiful very old town of about 60,000 people in the mountains east and North of Los Mochis.  It has a strong history and historical significance to not only Mexico but the United States as well.

We stayed here one night after touring the town and meeting some of the locals, it was a great day!

The next morning we were up had a cup of coffee and headed to the train station at El Fuerte, we decided to skip breakfast and enjoy the first class restaurant car the the train (El Chepe) offers.

El Fuerte, a colonial silver mining town with a rich history

Train to Bahuachivo/Cerocahui

The trains are modern, the food was great!  It is a great way to travel to these remote places

So after a few hours we were arriving in the train station at Bahuachivo.  We then boarded local transportation for the 30 minute ride going towards the Indian village of Cerocahui, we stayed at a lodge outside of the town but only a few minutes away.  It is called Paraiaso del Oso because behind the lodge is a rock shaped like Yogi the bear and Oso is Spanish for bear. It is a fantastically relaxing place to spend the afternoon - evening and morning.  We used this as the home base for our explorations into town and to the edge of the cliffs a few hours away.

Yogi is in the middle of the screen

We spent some time exploring and I have so many great photos of this area but space only allows for a few.

The little town behind us is Cerocahui

La Posada - Mansion Tarahumara

After our wonderful stay in Cerocahui we boarded the train to go further up into the canyon-lands.  Next stop was the Mansion Tarahumara, a older hotel which was built out of stone quarried from this area.  New rooms were added a few years ago so you can wake up to the sun coming up over the canyon.  When you step out onto your balcony the edge of the canyon is right below you.  It is breathtaking!

The food at the Mansion was out of this world

Don't fall over this balcony

Partial view from my room of the 60 person Gondola

A little Tarahumara cutie

Outside of a cave dwelling, this is their fresh water supply from a natural spring.

That thin line is for the zip liners

Lots of pine needle baskets to choose from

Side by side ziplines

Our hotel from the Gondola, it is on the left and is white

final group pick on the edge!

In summary on this part of the trip......It is raw, it is exciting, the scenery is like none you have ever experienced in one place, the food was incredible, the people inviting and warm...do this trip!

Next time I will write about our continuing journey from the lumber town of Creel to Chihuahua city, the fun continues!