Copper Canyon: the Chepe Train, Divisadero and Creel

1. Day 1: Los Mochis to El Fuerte

   Los Mochis International Airport to El Fuerte

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Welcome dinner in El Fuerte
   • Stay in El Fuerte
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Los Mochis (LMM), where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall. The road to El Fuerte runs north through Los Mochis, a sugar town laid out around the mill of the American planter Benjamin Francis Johnston, so we stop for about half an hour at the gates of the Benjamin Francis Johnston botanical garden, his old estate park, to stretch and get a cold drink in the shade. Then it is about an hour and a quarter inland through cane and vegetable fields, with the first ridges of the Sierra Madre ahead. El Fuerte is a small colonial town on the Fuerte River, founded by the Spanish in the 1560s, with a shaded plaza, arcaded mansions and a whitewashed church. Check in and rest through the heat. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide walks the group up to the Mirador del Fuerte museum on the site of the old fort, for the view over the rooftops, then down to the river path as the herons come in to roost. Briefing and welcome dinner in town. Plan to land by about 1 pm; later arrivals go straight to El Fuerte.

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Free from check-in until the 5 pm walk

   

2. Day 2: The Chepe Express into the canyon

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

   • By train
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Divisadero
   Day 2 details

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

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Late afternoon free on the rim

   Activity: About 7 hours on the train (about 9.20 am to 4.15 pm in the 2026 timetable). The Chepe Express runs on three set days a week, so departure dates are matched to its confirmed timetable at booking.

3. Day 3: Cable car and a Raramuri host

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

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Divisadero
   Day 3 details

   We start at the Barrancas del Cobre Adventure Park soon after it opens, around 9 am, before the day-trip groups off the train arrive. The cable car runs out over the canyon to a high point between the gorges, a ride of a few minutes each way, with the river far below. There is time on top to walk to the edge, and anyone who wants the zip lines or the via ferrata can book them on the spot; they are optional and we wait for you. 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.

   Included

   • 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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Ride the cable car and stay at the rim viewpoints; the afternoon visit is mostly standing and short walks.

   More active option: Add the zip lines or the via ferrata in the morning, or walk a longer section of the rim path with your guide.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free

4. Day 4: Down the rim road to Creel

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

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Creel
   Day 4 details

   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. 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. The afternoon and evening are free.

   Included

   • 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

   Optional experiences

   • Rowing boat on Lake Arareko

   Easier option: Stay with the van at the viewpoints and walk only the first part of the rock valleys.

   More active option: Walk the full lake shore path with your guide while the van meets us at the far end.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Creel

5. Day 5: Cusarare falls

   Creel to Cusarare and the falls, then back to Creel

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Creel
   Day 5 details

   About 24 km southeast of Creel by road, the village of Cusarare has an adobe Jesuit mission church still used by its Raramuri congregation, and a small museum of colonial religious paintings next to it. We visit both, then walk a little over 3 km each way through pine and oak along the river to the Cusarare waterfall, around 30 metres high, which is fullest after the summer rains and quieter in late winter. The path is mostly gentle with some rocky steps near the bottom viewpoint. 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. 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.

   Included

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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Drive to the upper viewpoint above the falls and skip the walk down; the van waits.

   More active option: Continue on the river trail beyond the falls with your guide before lunch.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Creel

   Activity: Opening days for the Cusarare museum are confirmed at booking.

   

6. Day 6: Over the plateau to Chihuahua

   Creel to Cuauhtemoc, then Chihuahua

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Chihuahua
   Day 6 details

   We leave Creel at 9 am for the longest drive of the trip, about four to four and a half hours on paved highway across the high plateau. That is a little over our usual 4 hour cap, because there is no shorter way down from the sierra to an airport city, so we break it in the middle. After about two hours we reach Cuauhtemoc, the centre of the Mennonite farming colonies settled here in the 1920s. 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. 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.

   Included

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

   Free time: Evening free in Chihuahua

   Activity: The longest road day and the one day over the 4 hour cap: about 4 to 4.5 hours of driving, broken by lunch and the museum in Cuauhtemoc after about 2 hours. The museum's opening days are confirmed at booking.

   

7. Day 7: Chihuahua, and home

   Chihuahua historic centre to Chihuahua International Airport

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 7 details

   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.

   Included

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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: If your flight leaves before about 2 pm, we go straight to the airport after breakfast.

   Activity: Book a flight leaving Chihuahua after about 2 pm to include the morning in the centre.

Wildlife and weather: October and November follow the summer rains, so the sierra is green and the Cusarare falls are fullest. December to February bring clear, cold days and frost or occasional snow on the rim and in Creel, which can close the cable car for a day. March and April are dry and mild, with the falls lower. We do not run from May to September, when Sinaloa is hot and the sierra rains begin.

• El Fuerte1 night
• Divisadero2 nights
• Creel2 nights
• Chihuahua1 night