Why you should jump on the Copper Canyon Railway through northern Mexico

El Chepe, in northern Mexico, is one of the world’s great rail journeys. Catherine Jarvie jumps on
Epic journey: The Copper Canyon railway route covers 665 kms and 36 bridges in northern Mexico
Alamy Stock Photo
Catherine Jarvie12 June 2017

The not-in-Kansas-anymore moment happens as soon as we land. It has taken a little over an hour to fly from Mexico City to Los Mochis in Mexico’s northern Sinaloa state but its location, between the Gulf of California and the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range, leaves a dramatic first impression as we hug the spectacular blue of the coastline to arrive in a desert landscape scattered with sky-high cacti that wouldn’t look out of place in a Tex Avery cartoon.

The jumping-off point for people heading to the beaches and surf resorts of Baja California, Los Mochis is also the first (or last, depending on your direction of travel) stop on the Copper Canyon Railway. One of the world’s great rail journeys, every morning one of two first-class trains leaves from Mexico’s Pacific coast in the west, the other from Chihuahua in the east. Covering 665km over 14 hours, El Chepe passes over 36 bridges and through 87 tunnels as it climbs from sea level to more than 2,400m. The ticket can be booked in hop-on, hop-off segments, giving you days — or weeks — to explore the stops along the way.

We’re here for nine days, starting in El Fuerte, one stop further along the route. Its desert climate means that in December, when we visit, it’s 30 degrees by day and fleece-jacket cold at night, making our stay a blend of poolside cervezas and warming open fires. We spend a happy two days navigating its Spanish-influenced avenues and plazas before we get our first glimpse of El Chepe as it steams into the station on day three.

Ensconced in the train’s restaurant car, we see that against a backdrop of lush tropical forest, waterfalls and canyon walls so close we could almost reach out and touch them. The nomadic Ruramuri live scattered across the canyons and came to international attention when their feats of barefoot running — up to 100 miles in a single journey is not uncommon — became the subject of a bestselling book, Born to Run. Their presence punctuates our journey, the women in their colourful wraps and hand-embroidered skirts and shawls offering snacks, jewellery and handicrafts to passengers through the train’s window every time we stop.

The Copper Canyon

The next few days pass in a breathtaking blur. Bahuichivo, our second stop, takes less than four hours to reach but rises so steeply in elevation that the 24 hours we spend there, hiking and horseriding amid the pine-filled valleys, riverways and waterfalls, feels not just a world but seasons away from the arid scrub and desert landscape that surrounds Los Mochis. But it’s when we stop at Divisadero to take in the view that a true sense of the canyons’ scale really registers. Deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon, the Copper Canyon is in fact a series of six major canyons and spans a total length of more than 59,500km. Shimmering red in the afternoon light, the view across Urique canyon is so vast it boggles the mind that this is just a hint of what’s on offer.

From here, it’s on to Creel, one of the most popular jumping-off points for exploring the region, with waterfalls, hot springs, ancient churches and beautiful natural beauty within easy reach. We’ve opted for a three-day visit to Batopilas, a former silver mining town deep at the bottom of the canyon floor. Once the world’s richest silver mines, it fell into disuse after the Mexican Revolution to be forgotten for the best part of 100 years.

Zubereitung von Tacos, Creel Mexiko
Alamy Stock Photo

To this day, Batopilas has a reputation as a place that time forgot. Even with new roads in place and vehicles up to the challenge, it takes around four hours to reach from Creel, with the final descent into Batopilas canyon itself a hair-raising run of switchback bends that offer spectacular views at every turn.

We spend two days exploring the town, marvelling at the deserted beauty of the Lost Cathedral, a leisurely 8km hike out of town, and the neo-Victorian kitsch of the Riverside Lodge — a delightfully eccentric boutique hotel that was once home to the town’s wealthiest family in the days when bi-weekly mule trains weighed down with silver made the long, arduous journey from the mine to Chihuahua.

The town of Creel
Alamy Stock Photo

We start the journey back to Chihuahua ourselves the next morning, albeit a slightly less arduous version than that of the mining days. Several hours later we will pull into Chihuahua station and back to real life but all this — the magic of the canyons — will stay with us long after we board our flight back to “Kansas” the next day.

Details

For El Chepe schedules and ticket information, visit chepe.com.mx. Three-day private tours of Batopilas cost US$928 (£720) for one to four people (amigos3.com).

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