Divisadero / Posada Barrancas

The Barrancas del Cobre are a system of deep canyons in the Sierra Tarahumara in the southwest of the state of Chihuahua; the deepest, the Barranca de Urique, drops more than 1,800 m. You travel there for the Chepe train ride through the Sierra, the views from the rim at Divisadero, and hikes to waterfalls, rock valleys, and down into the warm valley of Batopilas. The region is home to the Rarámuri, and gateway towns are Creel and Divisadero along the Chihuahua al Pacífico railway line.

Creel, at over 2,200 m in the Sierra Tarahumara, is the main gateway to the Barrancas del Cobre. The town began in 1907 as a rail station on the Chihuahua al Pacífico line, and is now the Chepe Express terminus. Nearby are rock valleys, Lago Arareko, and the Cusárare waterfall.

Batopilas is located at just 580m altitude at the bottom of the gorge of the Río Batopilas, about five bus hours from Creel. From the 18th to the early 20th century, the town was a center of silver mining. Since 2012, the village has been a Pueblo Mágico.

Located on the Gulf Coast of Baja California Sur, Loreto was founded in 1697 as the peninsula's first permanent Spanish settlement. The Mission Church and Mission Museum form the heart of its small downtown. Off the coast is the Bahía de Loreto National Park, home to five larger islands.

Baja California Sur encompasses the southern half of the Baja California peninsula, a desert land between the Pacific and the Gulf of California. You go for the resorts of Los Cabos on the southern tip, for boat trips from La Paz to Espíritu Santo Island with the sea lion colony of Los Islotes, and for the artist town Todos Santos near the Pacific coast. Further north lies the mission town Loreto on the Gulf. The islands and protected areas in the Gulf of California have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005.