Barrancas del Cobre

The Barrancas del Cobre are a system of about twenty canyons in the Sierra Tarahumara, in the southwest of the state of Chihuahua, carved by six rivers. Together they cover an area larger than the Grand Canyon in the United States, and some sections exceed 1,800 meters in depth. On the highlands there are pine forests and snowy winters; at the bottom, the climate is almost tropical, with orange and mango trees.

The range is the land of the rarámuris, or tarahumaras, a people known for long-distance running, who live in communities scattered across the canyons and sell straw, wood and textile handicrafts at stations and villages.

The Chihuahua–Pacific train, the Chepe, connects the city of Chihuahua to Los Mochis on the Sinaloa coast over about 650 km, with 86 tunnels and 37 bridges, crossing the range. It’s the classic way to see the region, with stops in Creel and Divisadero, where the best-known viewpoints are, and in El Fuerte, a colonial town already near the Pacific.

The train crosses that time-zone change along the way.

This destination brings together 5 cities: Chihuahua, Creel, Divisadero, El Fuerte, Los Mochis.