Mexico · Chihuahua
Copper Canyon (Creel)
A canyon system bigger than the Grand Canyon, reached by one of the great mountain railways of the Americas.
The Copper Canyon is not one canyon but a maze of gorges cut into the Sierra Tarahumara, several of them deeper than Arizona's Grand Canyon, and home to the Raramuri people. El Chepe, the Chihuahua al Pacifico railway, threads tunnels and bridges up to the rim at Divisadero, where three canyons open below one lookout. Creel, a pine-country railway town, is the usual base: cold nights, wood smoke, and lakes, rock valleys and waterfalls within an hour.
Suggested stay
3–6 days
Language
Spanish
Currency
MXN
Timezone
UTC-6
Why you'll love Copper Canyon (Creel)
El Chepe the railway climbs from the Pacific lowlands through dozens of tunnels and bridges to the rim, and the ride is half the trip.
The scale from Divisadero the Urique, Copper and Tararecua canyons fall away together, layer after layer of ridges going blue into the distance.
Raramuri country the sierra is still Raramuri land, with stone missions, cave homes and the famous long-distance runners.
Pine and rock around Creel the plateau is pine forest, a lake and valleys of eroded rock towers you can walk out to from town.
Best time to visit
Sep-Jun
14-29° days
27.753° N, 107.634° W
UTC-6 · America/Chihuahua
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Weather & when to go to Copper Canyon (Creel)
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Sep-Jun
Hiking prime Feb-Mar, Oct-Nov
Activity seasons none fair good prime
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Copper Canyon (Creel)
There is no truly bad month here. Jul-Aug are the summer rains, with afternoon storms that muddy trails and can cut the dirt roads down to the canyon floor, though they also turn the sierra green and put Basaseachi at full flow. Winter nights on the rim at Creel freeze hard, so pack for frost.
Top things to do in Copper Canyon (Creel)
-
El Chepe - the Chihuahua al Pacifico railway
scenic adventure ⭐ Highly recommendedThe line runs from Chihuahua over the sierra and down to Los Mochis on the coast, and the stretch between El Fuerte and Creel is the spectacular one: river gorges, switchbacks, long tunnels and high bridges as it climbs to the rim. Most people ride one section and break the journey at Divisadero, Posada Barrancas or Creel.
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Divisadero lookout - three canyons from the rim
scenic 👍 PopularThe classic view of the whole system, a few steps from the station: the Urique, Copper and Tararecua canyons meeting far below in tiers of ridges. The train pauses here, and Raramuri women sell baskets and food along the path. Sleeping on the rim lets you see it at sunset and dawn, when the walls actually turn copper.
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Parque de Aventura Barrancas del Cobre - cable car and zip lines
adventure scenic 👍 PopularThe adventure park on the rim beside Divisadero strings a cable car out over the canyon, a series of long zip lines, suspension bridges and a via ferrata along the cliff. The cable car alone is worth it for the view straight down; the zip lines are for anyone happy to hang over a very deep drop.
-
Urique and Batopilas canyons - trekking to the canyon floor
hiking adventure ⭐ Highly recommendedThe real canyon is down, not along the rim: trails drop through pine and oak into subtropical heat by the river, past Raramuri homesteads and old mule tracks. Guided descents run from the rim and from Creel, and the multi-day trek between Batopilas and Urique is the classic. Go with a local guide; the trails are unmarked.
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Lago Arareko and the rock valleys - the walking country around Creel
scenic nature wildlife 👍 PopularJust outside town on Raramuri communal land, a pine-ringed lake sits among the Valle de los Hongos, Valle de las Ranas and Valle de los Monjes, valleys of eroded rock pillars named for what they look like. You can walk, cycle or ride a horse out from Creel, and most tours stop at all of them.
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San Ignacio de Arareko mission - the stone church in the valley
history culture artsA plain stone mission church on the open ground near the lake, still used by the Raramuri community around it. It sits on the same loop as the rock valleys, and the setting, with cave dwellings and grazing goats nearby, says more about the sierra than any museum.
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Recohuata hot springs - down into Tararecua canyon
nature wildlife adventureThermal water piped into pools at the bottom of a steep canyon wall south of Creel. The drive gets you to the rim, then it is a long, hard walk down and a longer one back up. The soak at the bottom, with the canyon closing in overhead, is the reward.
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Raramuri crafts in Creel - baskets, violins and carvings
culture arts shoppingRaramuri women and children sell woven pine-needle and sotol baskets, wooden figures, belts and handmade violins on the plaza and by the station. Buying direct is the straightforward way to put money into the community; ask before photographing anyone.
Best areas to stay in Copper Canyon (Creel)
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Creel
First-time visitors $Pine-country railway town and hub
Explore hotels in Creel →
Divisadero and Areponapuchi
Canyon-rim views $$Hotels perched on the canyon rim
Explore hotels in Divisadero and Areponapuchi →
El Fuerte
Train from the coast $$Colonial river town at the train's foot
Explore hotels in El Fuerte →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Copper Canyon (Creel)
Getting to & around Copper Canyon (Creel)
Getting there
Most people come overland from Chihuahua, by coach via Cuauhtemoc or on El Chepe, or ride the railway up from El Fuerte and Los Mochis on the Pacific side.
Train
Creel station
El Chepe runs between Chihuahua and Los Mochis, stopping at El Fuerte, Bahuichivo, Posada Barrancas, Divisadero and Creel. Services are not daily on every section, so check the timetable and book ahead.
Coach
Creel
The quickest route in: regular buses from Chihuahua city through Cuauhtemoc, several hours on a paved road, and the usual way back out.
Flight
Chihuahua or Los Mochis
Fly into Chihuahua for the coach or the eastern end of the railway, or into Los Mochis on the coast to start the train ride from the western end.
Drive
The highway from Chihuahua via Cuauhtemoc to Creel and on to Divisadero is paved. Drive in daylight, and leave the rough roads down to the canyon floor to local drivers.
Getting around
Walking
Creel is a few streets around the plaza and the tracks, and the lake and rock valleys are within walking or cycling range.
Free
Tour van
Operators in Creel run the standard loops to the lake, Cusarare, Recohuata and Divisadero, and longer trips to Basaseachi and Batopilas.
TBC
Train
El Chepe links Creel, Divisadero, Posada Barrancas and Bahuichivo, and is how many people move between canyon stops.
TBC
Local bus
Buses run along the paved road between Creel and Divisadero, and slower ones serve the canyon towns.
TBC
Bicycle or horse
Hire in Creel for the lake and valley loop, which is the best way to see it at your own pace.
TBC
Day trips from Copper Canyon (Creel)
Cusarare waterfall and mission
Half dayWaterfall and mission
A walk through pine woods along a stream to a waterfall dropping over a rock lip into the gorge below. Cusarare village has an old mission church decorated with Raramuri designs and a small museum of colonial religious paintings. It runs strongest after the summer rains.
Getting there
car | tour | walk
About 30-45 min by road south of Creel, then a forest walk
Divisadero and the adventure park
Full dayCanyon rim lookout
If you are based in Creel, the rim is the day out: the three-canyon view from the lookout, the cable car and zip lines next door, and short rim walks. Better still, move on and stay a night.
Getting there
car | bus | train | tour
About 1 hr by road or on El Chepe
Basaseachi Falls
Full dayNational park waterfall
One of the highest waterfalls in Mexico, a single plunge into a deep forested canyon inside its own national park. Trails lead to lookouts on the rim opposite and down towards the base. It is at full flow after the summer rains and can be a thin ribbon by spring.
Getting there
car | tour
About 3 hr each way by road
Recohuata hot springs
Half dayCanyon-floor springs
Thermal pools at the bottom of Tararecua canyon. The descent is short but steep, the climb out is the real workout, and the soak in between is worth both.
Getting there
car | tour | walk
About 1 hr by road, then a steep walk down and back up
Batopilas and the Satevo mission
1-2 daysSilver town in the canyon
An old silver-mining town on the river at the bottom of the Batopilas canyon, reached by a road that drops from pine forest to banana and mango country. Downriver stands the Satevo mission, a lone domed church in an empty valley. Ask in Creel about road and local conditions before going.
Getting there
car | tour
Several hours each way on a winding mountain road, best with a local driver
A little history of Copper Canyon (Creel)
The Raramuri, also called the Tarahumara, have lived in these mountains for centuries, and many moved deeper into the canyons as Spanish missionaries and silver miners pushed into the sierra in the 1600s and 1700s. Jesuit missions such as Cusarare and Satevo date from that era, and the Raramuri absorbed parts of their Catholicism into their own beliefs. Silver made Batopilas one of the richest towns in the north, and later drew an American, Alexander Shepherd, to run its mines in the late nineteenth century.
The railway took most of the twentieth century to finish. Creel was founded as a railway town in the early 1900s and named after Enrique Creel, a Chihuahua governor and businessman, but the line across the sierra to the Pacific was not completed until 1961. It opened the canyons to visitors, and in 2009 the book Born to Run made the Raramuri's long-distance running famous far beyond Mexico.
Jesuit missionaries push into the Sierra Tarahumara and found missions among the Raramuri.
Silver strikes at Batopilas make it one of the richest mining towns in northern New Spain.
The Jesuits are expelled from New Spain and the sierra missions are left to other orders.
Alexander Shepherd, former governor of Washington DC, takes over the Batopilas silver mines.
Creel is founded as a stop on the railway being built west from Chihuahua.
The Chihuahua al Pacifico railway is completed across the sierra to the coast.
Born to Run brings worldwide attention to Raramuri runners and the race at Urique.
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Limited
Power
Type A / B
127 V, 60 Hz
Dialing
+52
Mobile network & SIM card
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FAQs about Copper Canyon (Creel)
▸ When is the best time to visit the Copper Canyon?
Sep-Jun is the main season. Autumn is the pick, with the sierra still green after the rains and clear, crisp days. Winter is sunny but freezing at night on the rim, with occasional snow. Jul-Aug bring afternoon storms and muddy roads, though the waterfalls run their fullest. For the deep canyon-floor treks, Oct-Mar is the window.
▸ How long do you need in the Copper Canyon?
Three days covers Creel, its lake and waterfalls, and a night on the rim at Divisadero. Five or six lets you add the full train ride from the coast, Basaseachi or Batopilas, or a guided trek to the canyon floor.
▸ Is the Copper Canyon really bigger than the Grand Canyon?
Taken together, yes. It is a network of several canyons rather than one, covering far more ground than the Grand Canyon, and some of its gorges, Urique among them, are deeper. What it lacks is a single view that shows it all; Divisadero comes closest.
▸ Should you take the train or the bus?
The bus from Chihuahua is quicker and runs more often, so it is the practical way to reach Creel. The train is the experience: ride at least the stretch between El Fuerte and Divisadero or Creel, which is where the climb, tunnels and bridges are.
▸ Is the Copper Canyon safe to visit?
The main tourist route along the railway, Creel and the Divisadero rim is visited steadily. The remote canyon floors and back roads are another matter, so travel them with a local guide or driver, move in daylight, ask locally before heading off the paved road, and check your own government's current advice.
▸ Do you need a guide to hike in the canyons?
For anything below the rim, yes. Trails are unmarked footpaths through Raramuri land, water and shade are scarce, and the climb back out is long. Short walks around Creel and along the rim are fine alone; descents and multi-day treks should go with a local guide.
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