The Drive to Copper Canyon

September 25, 2018
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Mexico
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Next stop – Copper Canyon. We were finally on our way to the grand canyon that is said to be even more beautiful and more magnificent than it’s American neighbor to the north. It was the idea of seeing copper canyon that planted the seed in our minds to do a road trip through Mexico. Our initial logistical research was really about how to get to this remote, potentially difficult region. Now it was happening and I was ready.

For more on how this road trip through Mexico got started:

The Prep & Considerations

We did a lot of research about this portion of the drive since it was through some pretty desolate regions of the country. Although we hadn’t had any safety issues to-date, Sinaloa doesn’t have the best reputation.

We would be on main roads for some of the drive, and some pretty in-the-middle-of-nowhere roads for much more of the drive. It was rainy season, which meant that any dirt roads could be washed out, or just really sticky with mud. In addition, the Copper Canyon region still occasionally has issues with bandits and cartels.

Arie, an avid reader of adventure forums, kept up-to-date on current road conditions and cartel activity. It seemed that the back route we had originally planned to take would be a bit too rugged for our Ford Escape. To be honest, this kind of made me go “phew;” I did not want to get stuck in the mud in the hot and sticky Mexican forest.

Getting There

Starting in Los Mochis, we drove north to Ciudad Obregon. We stopped for lunch and gas before turning northeast towards Yecora. After Obregon, we rarely saw another car.

The scenery was gorgeous: lush, rolling hills. The sun peaked through clouds, heavy with rain, but not quite ready for their pour.

As we drove on, we began to ascend into the mountains. The road became windy, forcing us to slow down so we could safely make each hairpin curve.

The road was littered with rocks that had fallen from the cliffs above, making us feel like we were on a cliff-side autocross track!

As we pushed further into the hills, we started to feel like we were in Colorado cowboy country. There were tall, green pines, mountain-lodge looking homes, and fields full of grazing cattle. I couldn’t believe how much the scenery had changed in just a short drive.

Yecora

We arrived in Yecora as the sun was setting. We found a hotel that had availability for the night and settled in. It was pretty rustic, but we were up early the next day for the final portion of our drive.

A Waterfall and an Australian

In the morning, we headed to Basaseachi falls in Canyon Candamena. As we were parking the car, a dual-sport motorcycle pulled up next to us. The bike had two saddlebags and was piled high with gear. We had a hunch that this guy was doing a cross continent trip, so we started chatting.

Chris, originally from Australia, had shipped his bike to Los Angeles. He was a few weeks in to his six-month drive to Argentina. Happy to have another English speaker to chat with, we ended up hiking to the falls together.

The falls were our first glimpse at the magnificent Copper Canyon. Platforms were set up above the rocks that looked out over the deep drop below. It was a bit scary; I tried not to stand too close to the edge.

Since we still had some time, we decided to hike a portion of the way down to the falls. There were tons of local families hiking down with coolers full of picnic supplies. Clearly, we didn’t plan appropriately!

After a few snaps with our cameras, we hiked back up to get lunch at a little café in the parking lot. We made it just before the rain came, which poured down every afternoon like clockwork.

As we watched Chris hop back on his bike in the pouring rain, we were thankful for our cozy, dry Escape.

Be sure to check out next week’s post for part two of our drive to Copper Canyon!