Copper Canyon trip from Guadalajara.

We want to do a 3-4 day trip to Copper Canyon in Ovtober.We want to do it on our own so we can spend our time doing what we want when we want.

I read some reviews and a couple of them said if they do it again, it would be solo.


Input appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi there Clueless,

Obviously my view is biased as I run a tour company, but I hope I can give you some ideas.

If you want to stay in the best hotels (Balderrama in my opinion) then you are better off finding an agent and getting a deal, otherwise you will pay lot per night. We have found that with the hotels (especially in the Divisadero area) you are paying for the view and not the room, even though the rooms are fine and clean.

If you can take more than 3 or 4 days. When we run our tour we fly into Los Mochis on the morning Volaris flight and transfer up to El Fuerte after breakfast in downtown Los Mochis. This then gives you the whole day to wander the small town, take a hike along the river or enjoy the rafting trip down river to see the petroglyphs and animal life of the area. Then in the evening enjoy the Zorro show in the Posada de hidalgo (Balderrama) hotel.

For food, my favourite restaurant in El Fuerte is Los Orrantia down on the square, great fresh black bass!

Day 2 we take the train from El Fuerte early to Bahuchivo (approx. 4 hours), passing over many of the bridges and through tunnels, you also travel from coastal vegetation to alpine whilst travelling the various canyons on the way up. Generally the right side of the train is the best for views but there are some good ones on the left too.

We disembark in Bahuichivo for a 20 min transfer to the old mission hotel in Cerocahui. There is not a huge amount to do here, but there is good hiking and horseriding, as well as the trip out to the Urique canyon viewpoint to see the deepest of the canyons.

The next day we head to Posada Mirador (just before Divisadero by 4km) where we stay in a hotel that every room is on the canyon rim, as is the bar, lounge and restaurant, not to mention the fantastic open air terrace.

We stay here for 2 nights so we can take part in various activities. There is a walk down to a traditional Tarahumara cave below the hotel, lots of hiking trails. And of course not to be missed is the Copper Canyon Adventure park, here you can ride the world's longest zip line - The Zip Rider, take a series of 7 zip lines, rock climb, ride atvs, or take a breathtaking and leisurely ride in cable car half way down the canyon. There is also great birding to be had in the area depending on weather and time of year.

At this point a lot of tours go to Creel, we don't as it is windy and dusty and tour feedback was to skip it from lots of people over the years we included it. However if you visit there is a cool little museum and the chance to buy souvenirs at a more reasonable price than some of the other spots.

We here go onto the City of Chihuahua, visiting the Mennonite community on the way and finishing with a tour of the museum of the Mexican Revolution (aka Pancho Villa's house) and then flying back to Guadalajara.

As you are only wanting 3 or 4 days I would possibly go as far as Divisadero or Creel and then return to Los Mochis, spend the night and fly home. The train ride from Divisadero to Chihuahua is not as interesting as the first 2 days I mentioned above.

Try and find a local guide, they can give you so much more information about the places you are visiting and make it a more enriching experience.

Be prepared for expensive bar bills in the higher end hotels, maybe take a bottle of your own if you wish.

The Tarahuamara don't as a rule bargain, if they tell you a price, that is its cost as that is what they feel their work is worth, take it or leave it.

Have lots of small change, the fantastic baskets and handmade crafts of the Tarahumara are really very inexpensive and they won't often have change for you.

I hope this helps, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Now as a shamless plug, I have 4 trips this coming winter to the Canyons, 2 are full already and the others are starting to fill up. We have spaces available on:

9th - 14th Feb
2nd - 7th Mar

This was fascinating, very valuable info. I have wanted to tour the Copper Canyon, but I am the type of person who wants to know exactly what I am getting into. I appreciate the details you provided.

My pleasure, and if anyone has any other questions about the Canyons, or a lot of other parts of Mexico in which we tour, then please do not hesitate to ask me / pm me.

Saludos

A Baldarama hotel is at every site you would want to stay. Maybe they offer a discount if you book your nights with them all along the way from Los Mochis to Chihuahua..

I'm sure it's going to be great. and when we return, will post pictures. We are going in the last week in October.

The only slight irritant so far is that the Mirador Hotel sends us their own driver for $1,500 but Uber is $1,106.

No discount for Mx. residents or DIF card holders.

The Mirador Hotel sends a driver to take you 100 yards from the train depot to the hotel? Most people just walk.

Posada Mirador (the Balderrama hotel) sends vehicles for because it is a 400m uphill walk from the station. For us it is included as we are normally taking a group and they absorb the cost.

We drove down to Copper Canyon from Colorado in about 2002. It snowed in Creel over Christmas and was great fun except that the road to Batopilas was closed. We went to Urique instead. We stayed in Creel at a Hostel - no fancy hotels for us - we were the oldest folks there and had a great time getting to know people at the communal meals. There wasn't any snow in the canyon and we hiked all over. The train would be interesting, but so was hiking in the bottom of the canyon.

Gamina wrote:The Mirador Hotel sends a driver to take you 100 yards from the train depot to the hotel?  Most people just walk.

No, to the hotel, about a 40 minute drive. Still, it is more the $500 higher than Uber.

the only town 40 mins away must be Creel.

Clueless wrote:

Gamina wrote:The Mirador Hotel sends a driver to take you 100 yards from the train depot to the hotel?  Most people just walk.

No, to the hotel, about a 40 minute drive. Still, it is more the $500  higher than Uber.

I don't know which town/hotel you are talking about, I guess. The Mirador is just off the train tracks. Someone said 400 meters but the walk didn't seem that long.

There are a couple of hotels with Mirador in their names. The Balderrama one which Clueless is talking about - Barrancas Mirador - is 400m from the station which is Posada Barrancas (4km before Divisadero). Hotel El Mirador (which is ageing a bit now) is only 100m at most from the train station in Divisadero.