Copper Canyon, Mexico

Four Times the Grand Canyon, Almost No One There

Copper Canyon is not one canyon. It is a system of six interconnected gorges in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental that together cover a greater surface area and reach greater depth than the Grand Canyon. The deepest point, above the Urique River, drops around 1,870 metres from rim to valley floor. Americans in particular tend to be surprised by this, having filed Copper Canyon somewhere in the mental category of “smaller Mexican version of something we have.” It is not.

The canyon sits in the Sierra Tarahumara, named for the Rarámuri people who have lived here for several centuries and are still here in significant numbers, selling pine needle baskets at train stations and running ultramarathons barefoot on sandals made from tire rubber. The region resists the idea of a quick visit, partly because of logistics and partly because the rewards are proportional to how deep into it you go.

El Chepe: The Train That Makes This Possible

The Chepe Express train connecting Los Mochis on the Sinaloa coast to Creel in the Sierra Tarahumara highlands is one of the genuinely great train journeys in the Americas. The line covers roughly 650 kilometres of track through 86 tunnels and over 37 bridges. The official journey time is around nine hours end to end.

The Chepe Express runs three times a week in each direction: departing Los Mochis on Monday, Thursday and Saturday at 7am, arriving Creel around 5:40pm; departing Creel on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday at 8am. Book tickets directly through chepe.mx, the official Ferromex site, to avoid markups from third-party sellers. First class has panoramic windows and includes an on-board meal; Executive class has a bar car; Tourist class is basic but functional.

The practical approach is a hop-on, hop-off ticket that lets you leave the train at Divisadero, Cerocahui or other stops, stay a night or several, and reboard when you’re ready. One-way through to Creel treats the train as a means of transport; a hop-off at Divisadero turns it into the point of the trip. The views from the canyon rim near Divisadero are the most immediate and dramatic in the system, accessible within minutes of the station.

Where to Focus Your Time

Creel is the main hub on the canyon’s eastern rim and the practical base for most independent travelers. The town sits at 2,338 metres in the pine forests of the Sierra Tarahumara, surrounded by volcanic rock formations that look like something out of a sci-fi film. From Creel you can organize day hikes, Rarámuri village visits, and the vertiginous road descent to Batopilas.

Batopilas is a silver-mining town 80 kilometres from Creel at the bottom of one of the deepest canyons in the system. The bus journey takes around four hours on unpaved switchbacks and is genuinely not for motion-sickness sufferers without medication. The town itself, at 540 metres altitude, is subtropical warm while Creel is jacket weather, and the contrast is almost hallucinatory. The three-day trek from Batopilas to Urique along old paths through mango groves is considered one of the best multi-day routes in Mexico.

Divisadero, a small settlement between Los Mochis and Creel along the train route, is worth an overnight specifically for the canyon views from the Hotel Mirador and Hotel Divisadero Barrancas, both perched at the rim. The sunrise from this location is the most photographed sight in Copper Canyon, and it earns the reputation.

Urique, at the canyon floor near the Urique River, sits 20 to 30 degrees warmer than the rim and runs slower on every axis. River swimming in summer, hiking along the canyon base, and watching the Rarámuri run the Ultramarathon Caballo Blanco each March are the main draws. The road down from Creel takes about two and a half hours.

The Rarámuri

The indigenous Rarámuri (also called Tarahumara) are not a tourist attraction, and framing a visit around treating them as one will produce a bad trip. They are, however, present throughout the region, and interactions at train station markets, craft stalls, and guided village visits organized through established local operators are common and generally welcomed when approached respectfully. The crafts, particularly pine needle baskets woven to detailed geometric patterns, are functional objects made to a quality standard most travelers find surprising. Buying directly from artisans at the train stops is straightforward and the main economic exchange most visitors make.

Some operators offer guided hikes led by Rarámuri runners from the Bacajipare community, including a three-hour route called the Giants Trail. This kind of arranged visit, where the community controls the terms, is preferable to showing up at a village uninvited.

Where to Stay

Creel has a range of accommodation from basic guesthouses to the Best Western Lodge at Creel, which functions as an eco-friendly mid-range hotel with local knowledge and can organize most activities. For canyon rim views, the hotels at Divisadero are the standard choice: Hotel Mirador has balcony rooms directly over the canyon edge. At the bottom, Batopilas has a small number of guesthouses suited to the town’s unhurried pace.

Where to Eat

Creel has enough restaurants to eat well for several days without repeating yourself. The local cooking runs to grilled meats, bean soups, and corn-based preparations, with Rarámuri influence in some of the simpler preparations. Skip the restaurants aimed explicitly at tourists and look for the smaller places with handwritten menus. The quality differential is significant.

In Batopilas, the restaurant options are limited and tied to your guesthouse in most cases. Budget for simple food and good conversation rather than culinary variety.

Getting There

Los Mochis has an international airport (LMM) with connections through Mexico City and other hubs. Chihuahua City on the eastern end also has an airport and is a reasonable starting point if you plan to ride the train west. From Los Mochis, a taxi or shuttle to the train station takes about 20 minutes.

From Chihuahua City, buses run to Creel in around four to five hours if you prefer to skip the train entirely and use it in one direction only, which many independent travelers do. The best direction to ride the train is west to east, Los Mochis to Creel, because the most dramatic canyon views are on the left side of the train and appear mid-journey; eastbound you reach the rim after several hours through flat Sinaloa plains, westbound you descend into the canyon from Creel with views from the start.

The driest months, October to April, give clearer air. The summer rainy season from July through September turns the canyon green and adds waterfalls, but afternoon thunderstorms are common and trails can become unpredictable. September and October together may be the best compromise.