Copper Canyon
7 day/6 night tour leaves from El Paso and includes the Hotel Mirador, award winning hotel perched at the highest point of the Copper Canyon (pictured view). Includes round trip train fare from Divisidero to El Fuerte, where you will stay two nights in the Posada del Hidalgo, a beautiful spa hotel that is a restored colonial mansion built in 1890. Tour also includes Chihuahua City, Creel, and Casas Grandes with tour of archeological site Paquime and the Museum of Northern cultures. Fee $875 (double occupancy, 2 guests per room) includes transportation/accommodation, some meals as indicated. Small group in new 15-passenger van, limited to 9 guests per van (1 or 2 vans). The schedule is as follows:
March 19 – 10 am leave El Paso, 1 night Chihuahua City
March 20 – 10 am leave Chihuahua,1 night in Hotel Mirador at Divisidero (incl. 3 meals)
March 21 – 12:34 pm board train, 1 night in Hotel Posada del Hidalgo, El Fuerte (via Train)
March 22 – All day, explore El Fuerte, optional tours, 2nd night Hotel Posada del Hidalgo
March 23 – 8:30 am board train, 1 night in Creel
March 24 – 9 am leave Creel, 1 night in Casas Grandes
March 25 – Paquime and Museum, 2 pm return via Columbus NM to El Paso
About a day’s drive from the US border at El Paso, the Copper Canyon is
located in northwestern Mexico in the Sierra Madre Mountains of the
state of Chihuahua. This canyon is one of Mexico’s natural wonders and
is actually several large canyons covering an area (25,000 square miles)
four times the size of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
Although
both the Copper Canyon and the Grand Canyon are dramatic and beautiful
landscapes in their own respect, they are different in many ways. One
major difference is the ground color, the Copper Canyon being a chalk
white limestone, while the Grand Canyon is red and rust sandstone hues.
Your trip south from El Paso to Chihuahua City is very easy going, the roads are 4 lane toll roads. Chihuahua City is a very modern and well-organized city, and in my opinion, one of the cleanest cities in Mexico.
We will have enough time for a short tour there, you have the best guide possible for Chihuahua, this is Sabina’s home town and her family still lives there. There is a museum in a beautiful historic mansion, a Casa De Las Artesanias, and art gallery. The tolls roads continue past Chihuahua all the way now to Guerrera, which is just past the turn off to Creel and the Copper Canyon. The road from this point is still very good, but two lanes and gets more curvy as you start entering the Sierras. Past Creel you can go by car in two directions. One leads to Batopilas, which is about 4.5 hours from Creel, about ½ the way is paved, the dirt road as it drops down in the Canyon is only for the stout hearted, hairpin turns, narrow bypasses, and steep canyon walls drop off at the edge of the road. Breathe easy, Batopilas, is a trip on it’s own, and we won’t go there this tour. The other road past Creel goes to Divisidero, about an hour away and one of the highest points in the Copper Canyon. This is the site of our wonderful hotel, The Mirador (pictured), perched at the Canyon’s rim. The paved road doesn’t go much further, just 15 minutes more to San Rafael.
The
best way to see the Copper Canyon is on the historic Chihuahua Pacifico
Railroad, “El Chepe.” Built over a 90 year period, this world-famous
railroad is an engineering masterpiece. It has been called "the most
dramatic train ride in the western hemisphere." To partake of the most
exciting part of the train ride in a more compact schedule (6 hours,
12:34 to 6:10 pm), we will depart from Divisidero. At almost 8,000 feet
this is one of the highest points of the line, and ride to El Fuerte,
which is on the west side of the Sierras and almost at sea level. The Chepe goes all the way from Chihuahua City to Los Mochis, almost 16
hours, 6 am and to10 pm. Each train combines a dinner car and four
passenger cars (each assisted by a porter) with 68 comfortable seats.
In 1998 the train cars were upgraded, now this is the most modern and
comfortable passenger train in Mexico. El Chepe will provide you with
memorable experience of the Copper Canyon.
For
some R&R in a tropical climate, we will stay two nights in El Fuerte.
There should be a nice array of springtime flowers there in March. El
Fuerte was founded in 1564 by the Spanish conquistador Don Francisco de
Ibarra, the first explorer of the lofty western Sierra Madre mountains.
In 1610 a fort was built to ward off the fierce Zuaque and Tehueco
indians. El Fuerte was the gateway to the last frontiers of northern
indian territories of Sonora, Arizona and California. For three
centuries it was the most important commercial and agricultural center
of the vast northern region of Mexico. El Fuerte became a major trading
post for silver miners and gold seekers from the Urique, Batopilas and
Rain of Gold mines in the nearby Sierra Madre. In 1824, El Fuerte became
the capital of what is now the states of Sonora, Sinaloa and part of
Arizona. It remained so for several years. There is much rich history in
and around El Fuerte. You can be sure that a historical walk around this
picturesque colonial city of 30,000 people is very rewarding.
Your hotel, the Posada del Hidalgo is centrally located for exploring.
This beautiful hotel is a former colonial mansion built by Señor Rafael
Almada in 1890. It was built just below the old fort and has four layers
of brick and adobe in its construction. Most of the 285 Canadian red
pine beams and furniture were brought by boat from San Francisco,
California.
The iron
work was brought from Mazatlan. The hotel features tropical gardens, a
swimming pool, restaurant, high beamed ceilings and two
story balconies. Most of the rooms are air conditioned and all have
private tile baths. Short optional excursions include horseback riding,
river rafting, kayaking, bicycling, and a tour to an
Indian village.
After our two nights and one day in El Fuerte we will return, 8:30 am to
1:45 pm, to Divisadero on the train. We will proceed to Creel for the
night after visiting the Tarahumara Indian market at Divisidero. The
dignified and reclusive Tarahumara Indians are a tribe who have chosen
to live apart from modern western culture. They live primitively,
subsisting on corn, beans, and their livestock. In the winter they live
in caves, moving into small log cabins in the summer. Often you will see
one of their homes perched what appears to be an inaccessible area of
the canyon. Well adapted to the severe and harsh terrain, the men are
noted for their endurance in long distance running and have won a number
of international competitions. The women are excellent weavers and
produce beautiful baskets and fine wool blankets.
Creel
is one of the main towns, about 25,000 population, for tourist services
in the high Sierra region (7,700 ft. elevation) of the Copper Canyon.
It still is an important lumber town, but now the main street is busy
with international travelers. At first glance, you might think we took
a wrong turn, and wound up in an old west town in Colorado, log cabins
abound as wood is a reasonable building material here. Creel has a good
number of nice shops, hotels, and restaurants, and the small museum by
the train station is interesting. They had a good photography exhibit
last spring documenting an inside look at the philosophy of the Tarahumara.
When we leave Creel the next morning, we will take a different route back to Casas Grandes, the trip is about 6 hours. Backtracking on our route to Chihuahua, we will go north on a good two lane highway through the ranches, orchards, and farms of Guerrera (origin of Sabina’s great grandparents) and Zaragosa, dropping down with long scenic vistas from the Sierras into Buena Ventura (origin of Sabina’s other great grandparents). There are many Mormon and Mennonite farms in this part of the country and around Casas Grandes.
Casas
Grandes is about an hour from Buena Ventura. The largest city in the
area is Nuevo Casas Grandes, 80,000 population, which became established
in 1870 when the railroad was built here. About 3 miles away is where
we live, the Pueblo or Casas Grandes, which was originally settled by
the Spanish in 1661. The Pueblo with its historic church, two central
plazas, and historic adobe buildings, still retains its small village
charm. Located just west of a green river valley, Casas Grandes was
originally settled (approx. 1250-1500 AD) by the Hopi Indians who built
adobe apartment style buildings up to 6 stories high. They were skilled
artesans (over 10,000 ancient pottery artifacts have been found in the
area). The remaining archeological site Paquime is considered one of
the most important sites in the Southwest. Next to Paquime is the
Museum of Northern Cultures, which gives you a good orientation to the
rich native civilization that lived here. We will visit the museum and
tour the nearby (20 minutes away) villages of Colonial Juarez (Mormon
settlement) and Mata Ortiz, internationally famous for its pottery.
If
we are lucky, our friends Spencer and Emalie MacCallum will join us for
a meal or coffee while you are here. Spencer discovered Juan Quezada 30
years ago, started the Mata Ortiz Pottery industry, and is subject of
the book, The Miracle of Mata Ortiz. Sabina and I are also fortunate to
have met many of the archeologists that frequent here, and have some
interesting perspectives from them and local historians that we can
share with you. We will show you our home which was built in the last
year with a poured adobe system that I replicated from the technique the Indians used at Paquime. Our land overlooks Paquime, the museum, the
river valley, the mountains, and is the site of our future bed and
breakfast.
We look forward to hosting you on this tour,
Jack and Sabina