Touring Sierra Gorda and Huasteca

Contributer: motoquest (06-19-2007)
Distance: 640 mi.

A ride to remember from earth level to the Gates of Heaven and beyond to a place called the Purgatory and finally to the Paradise in the Royal SPA in Zimapan.

DISTANCE: 640km
TYPE OF ROAD: Paved mountain roads, plenty of curves
WEATHER: from hot desert to cold forest and sweating hot jungle (all in 1 day!)
POLICE PRESENCE: none, a couple military checkpoints (not to worry about)

The Sierra Gorda and Huasteca ride is one hell of a ride in Mexico. It has the most frequent climate changes you could find and a never ending curvy road with marvelous landscapes. The journey begins and also ends in the beautiful little town of Tequisquiapan in the state of Queretaro. From there we go north crossing some villages on the way until the road start climbing the spectacular Sierra Gorda, when the desert meets the mountains up to the Puerta del Cielo (The Gates of Heaven) the highest point of the Sierra Gorda. Passing Pinal de Amoles we enter the cold part of the Sierra Gorda mountain range, and the weather changes drastically. Be aware that in this part finding rain and haze is very common. When reaching Jalpan de Serra you could visit the splendid Franciscan Missions of Fray Juni?pero Serra, protected by UNESCO as heritage for human kind. The 5 missions are little churches from the XVI century made by spaniards monks in order to bring catholic religion to the local tribes. You could visit all of them if you like: Jalpan, Landa, Conca, Tilaco and Tancoyol. Also, near Conca's mission there's a huge natural hole called the Sotano del Barro, second largest abyss of the kind in the world. After that we proceed to the north to Xilitla and the landscape and climate changes again to a sauna-like tropical jungle entering the Huasteca in the state of San Luis Potosi?. We reccomend a meal with traditioal Acamaya (river lobsters) in the LA CURVA DE HUICHIHUAYAN restaurant that has the best acamayas around. Then the ride takes you the south to Tamazunchale, a small city with nice restaurants and from the a ride in Queretaro's Huasteca. There a 5 huastecas in Mexico, in 5 states, and all of them are worth a visit. We pass a series of villages with some really funny names in spanish, and among then is El Purgatorio (PURGATORY) just when you star to feel tired and dizzy with so much twisties. That road takes us to Los Marmoles National Park with a gorgeous landscape and the most extreme curves in the whole journey, so be careful with this mountain road. After this dose of curves we arrive at the luxurious Royal SPA in Zimapan, where you could hace a nice massage and relax. But the show continues as we ride uphill to the Presa Zimapan (Zimapan Dam) with a splendid twisty road and spectacular wiews all the way up to the majestic Dam and basin in between to tunnels carved in the stone. From there there's another nice dose of curves down to Cadereyta. Passing Cadereyta we reccomend a visit to de Cavas Freixenet where you could taste some nice Champagne and enjoy in relaxing eviroment. From there you are pretty close to Tequisquiapan, where this ride began, and so you can complete a nice loop in one of the best roads Mexico has to offer to motocyclists.

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