Things to do
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Cerro del Quemado
A ceremonial circle of stones sits on the summit of this hill above town, the place where, in Wixárika belief, the sun was born. The climb goes on foot or on horseback across open scrub, with horses and guides hired in town and wide views over the Wirikuta desert. Ceremonies are private, and offerings left at the circle are not to be touched or photographed.
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Palenque de Gallos
Stone tiers rise in a full circle around a small ring in this nineteenth-century cockpit, built during the silver boom and later restored. It now serves as an open-air venue for concerts and festival events, so access depends on what is on. It lies a few minutes uphill on foot from the main church, and the stone tiers have no rail.
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Parroquia de la Purísima Concepción
Pilgrims travel to this church from across northern Mexico for a carved figure of Saint Francis of Assisi, known as Panchito and credited with miracles. The feast on 4 October fills the town for days; outside it, the church is quiet.
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Túnel de Ogarrio
Cut through the mountain at the start of the twentieth century to carry ore, the Ogarrio tunnel runs for more than two kilometres in a single lane and remains the only road into town. Attendants alternate the traffic in each direction, so waits at either end are normal. A toll is paid at the mouth, and buses cannot fit, so passengers cross in pick-up vans.
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Wirikuta
Below the mountains, the high desert of Wirikuta is the end point of the Wixárika pilgrimage, a protected sacred landscape of cactus, scrub and dry riverbeds. Old Willys jeeps leave from town for trips down the mountain track to the plain and the railway settlement of Estación Catorce, passing abandoned mine workings on the way. Cacti are protected and are not collected; shade is scarce.
