Copper Canyon: the Chepe Train, Divisadero and Creel

Los Mochis to El Fuerte

Los Mochis International Airport to El Fuerte

• Welcome dinner in El Fuerte
• Nuit : El Fuerte
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Soir

Briefing and welcome dinner in town. Plan to land by about 1 pm; later arrivals go straight to El Fuerte.

Compris

• Pick-up at Los Mochis International Airport (LMM)
• Short stop at the Benjamin Francis Johnston botanical garden gates in Los Mochis
• Evening walk with your guide: the plaza, Mirador del Fuerte museum and the river path
• Welcome briefing and welcome dinner

The Chepe Express into the canyon

El Fuerte by train to Divisadero, on the rim of the Copper Canyon

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Divisadero
• En train

Matin

After breakfast we walk to the station, or drive the few minutes if your bags are heavy, and board the Chepe Express, the tourist train on the Chihuahua al Pacifico railway, at about 9.20 am. Boarding at El Fuerte rather than Los Mochis saves a pre-dawn start. For about the next seven hours the line climbs from the farm country of Sinaloa into the Sierra Madre Occidental, crossing the long bridge over the Chinipas river, looping round on itself near Temoris and running through dozens of tunnels as the pines close in. It is a long day in your seat, so your guide moves the group between seats and the open terrace car where the train allows it, as the best views change sides.

Après-midi

Lunch is in the dining car on board. We step off at Divisadero, at about 2,240 metres, at about 4 pm, and our bags go straight to the hotel on the rim. The first viewpoint is a few minutes' walk away, and the timetable gets us there in time for the late light on the canyon walls.

Soir

Dinner is at the hotel, since the rim has few restaurants.

Compris

• Chepe Express train from El Fuerte to Divisadero, seats in the class we confirm at booking
• Lunch in the train's dining car
• Sunset at the Divisadero viewpoint with your guide

Cable car and a Raramuri host

Divisadero: the Barrancas del Cobre Adventure Park, then a Raramuri community on the rim

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Divisadero
• Environ 30 min de route

Après-midi

Back on the rim we walk an easy stretch of the edge path between viewpoints and stop for lunch. In the afternoon a Raramuri host, a member of a community near Divisadero, takes us to their home ground: how families live between the rim and the canyon floor through the year, the running tradition the Raramuri are known for, and the baskets and weaving sold at the station. The visit is arranged with the community and paid to it. The rest of the day is free.

Compris

• Barrancas del Cobre Adventure Park: the cable car (teleferico), ticket included
• Rim walk between viewpoints with your guide
• Raramuri community visit with a local host, fee paid to the community

Activités en option

• Zip lines and via ferrata at the Adventure Park, booked and paid on the day

Down the rim road to Creel

Divisadero to San Ignacio de Arareko and Lake Arareko, then Creel

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Creel
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

A slow morning on the rim for the sunrise if you want it, then about an hour and a half of driving through the pines, split by the stops, to the lands of the San Ignacio de Arareko ejido, a Raramuri communal property just outside Creel. Here the plateau breaks up into rock gardens: the Valley of the Monks, with its tall standing columns, and the smaller valleys of rounded rocks known as the frogs and the mushrooms. We walk between them on sandy paths for about an hour and a half, with the old San Ignacio mission church on the way.

Après-midi

Lunch is a picnic or a simple meal at Lake Arareko, a long, narrow lake with granite outcrops along its shore and pines down to the water, where you can walk part of the shore or take a rowing boat. We reach Creel in the early afternoon. It is a logging and railway town at about 2,340 metres, with one main street, a plaza and a craft shop run for the Raramuri missions.

Soir

The afternoon and evening are free.

Compris

• San Ignacio de Arareko: the Valley of the Monks and the rock valleys, ejido entry fee included
• San Ignacio mission church
• Lunch at Lake Arareko

Activités en option

• Rowing boat on Lake Arareko

Cusarare falls

Creel to Cusarare and the falls, then back to Creel

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Creel
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is back in the village. We are in Creel by mid-afternoon, which leaves time to rest, wander the craft shops or ride out to the hot springs at Recowata, an optional extra.

Soir

The altitude makes the evenings cold through the winter, so this is a good night for an early dinner of your choice on the main street.

Compris

• Cusarare mission church and its museum of religious art
• Guided walk to the Cusarare waterfall
• Lunch in Cusarare

Activités en option

• Recowata hot springs, with the transfer and entry paid locally

Over the plateau to Chihuahua

Creel to Cuauhtemoc, then Chihuahua

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Chihuahua
• Environ 4.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is in the Mennonite corridor of farms, cheese makers and orchards outside town, with a stop at a museum on the community's history. The last stretch, about two hours, drops to Chihuahua, the state capital, at about 1,400 metres, so the air feels warmer and easier. We arrive by late afternoon and check in at a hotel in the historic centre.

Soir

Your guide takes anyone who wants it on an early-evening walk to the cathedral, its baroque facade lit at dusk, and the Plaza de Armas. Dinner is free tonight; the old centre has plenty of choice within a few blocks of the hotel.

Compris

• Cuauhtemoc: Mennonite museum and lunch in the farm corridor
• Evening walk to the cathedral and the Plaza de Armas with your guide

Chihuahua, and home

Chihuahua historic centre to Chihuahua International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

A short morning in the centre before the flights home. We start at the Palacio de Gobierno, where the courtyard murals by Aaron Pina Mora tell the story of the state, and a memorial recalls Miguel Hidalgo, the priest who began the war of independence, executed in Chihuahua in 1811; his cell is kept in the Palacio Federal across the street. Then a walk past the cathedral to the Quinta Gameros, an early 1900s mansion with art nouveau rooms that is now a museum; it is closed on Mondays, so our dates never end on one. If time and opening days allow, we end at the Museo Historico de la Revolucion in the Quinta Luz, the house of Pancho Villa's widow, with the car in which he was shot. From the centre it is about 30 minutes to Chihuahua International Airport (CUU). Your guide sees you to the terminal. Book a flight leaving after about 2 pm; for an earlier flight we go straight to the airport after breakfast. Staying on in Chihuahua, or continuing to Mexico City, can be arranged.

Compris

• Palacio de Gobierno and its murals with your guide
• Quinta Gameros museum, entry included
• Drop-off at Chihuahua International Airport (CUU)

Activités en option

• Museo Historico de la Revolucion (Quinta Luz), if opening days and your flight time allow