Things to do
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Batopilas
One street along a river at the bottom of the gorge, a silver town that drew American capital in the mining decades. Getting there means a paved road of relentless switchbacks dropping well over a kilometre, several hours from the rim, and the climate at the end is subtropical: mangoes, citrus, heat. Ruins of the mine owner's hacienda face the town, and a domed church of unrecorded builders stands downstream.
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Cascada de Basaseachi
Two streams join above a cliff and drop 246 metres in a single fall, the highest permanent waterfall in Mexico, inside a national park far to the northwest of Creel. A short path leads to the viewpoint at the top, and a steep trail descends toward the pool at its foot. The drive from Creel takes over two hours each way. Flow peaks after the summer rains and thins by late spring.
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Cascada de Cusárare
Pine forest and a marked path of half an hour lead to a fall of about thirty metres dropping into a rock amphitheatre. Rarámuri vendors lay out baskets along the trail. Flow depends entirely on the rains: full from the summer storms into autumn, thin by spring. A mission church stands at the village above, its walls hung with colonial paintings.
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Copper Canyon
Six major gorges cut by rivers through the Sierra Madre Occidental, a system wider than the Grand Canyon and deeper in parts, with the floor lying more than a kilometre and a half below the rim. Rarámuri families farm the terraces and shelter in rock overhangs. From Divisadero the rim view takes in three of the gorges at once; reaching the bottom takes days by road or on foot.
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Creel
A logging and railway town at around two thousand three hundred metres, an hour south of the rim and the main base in the Sierra Tarahumara. Wooden storefronts face the tracks; a Rarámuri crafts centre sells baskets and carved figures. Day trips run out to rock formations shaped like mushrooms and frogs, a mission church and a lake. Winters are cold and clear; the rains reach the Sierra in late summer.
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El Chepe
Over six hundred kilometres of track cross the Sierra Madre between Chihuahua and Los Mochis, through dozens of tunnels and over high bridges, and the trains pause at the Divisadero station on the rim. Two services share the line: a regional train with frequent stops and a tourist express with dining and panoramic cars. Tickets sell out in high season; canyon-side seats are worth requesting.
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Hotel Divisadero Barrancas
Rooms here run along the rim beside the railway station, with windows over the junction of three canyons, and the dining room faces the same view. The train halt and the Rarámuri vendors' stalls sit a minute's walk away. Nights are cold at this altitude, with most guests arriving and leaving on the train.
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Lago de Arareco
Smooth granite and pine woods surround a horseshoe-shaped lake on Rarámuri communal land a few kilometres south of Creel. A trail circles the shore, and the rock valleys nearby are a short walk or ride away. Entry is ticketed by the community. Nights freeze in winter, and the light is softest late in the day.
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Parque de Aventura Barrancas del Cobre
Built along the canyon rim beside the station, an adventure park whose cable car crosses to a pinnacle on the far side and back, hanging above a drop of hundreds of metres. A zip line circuit of seven stages descends the gorge, one of the longest strung anywhere, with a via ferrata and rim trails alongside. Weather closes the lines; winter mornings often start iced.
