Hanging in the Air by Alf Alderson

There’s a point on the Chihuahua-Pacifico Railroad when you appear to be hanging in the air - which is not an easy feat for several hundred tons of locomotive and carriage. This phenomenon comes about due to the fact that this awesome railroad is single track for much of its length, and the main body of the carriages is wider than the rails, so on some of the narrower bridges you’re virtually hanging over the edge and can look out of the window straight down to a dry river bed which may be several hundred feet below.

Not your average return fare then. The journey that takes in this apparently gravity-defying feat is from Los Mochis, on the edge of Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, through the Copper Canyon (Barranca del Cobre) to Creel, some 7,000’ up in the Chihuahua’s Tarahumara Highlands. Although this is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular rail routes in the world, relatively few people visit Copper Canyon despite the fact that it’s comparable in size to the Grand Canyon.

Where it doesn’t compare to the Grand Canyon is in its isolation. There are no helicopters or white water rafts taking tourists through or down Copper Canyon and there are very few roads. Some of the farthest reaches of the canyon are, in fact, said to contain ancestors of the Apache Indians who fled from European settlers in New Mexico in the 19th century, and kept their traditions alive in these virtually inaccessible valleys.

The main form of transport off the beaten track is foot, horseback or train. The train journey starts inauspiciously enough in Los Mochis at 6.00 am, with the usual mini-riot that passes for a ticket queue in Mexico. Once aboard the tendency is to nod off as you pass through the unlovely outskirts of the town, so set your alarm for no later than an hour after departure, because from here on in things get increasingly spectacular. As you approach the canyon the open plains start to buckle up like an ill-fitting carpet to form the foothills of the highlands, and eventually the mouth of the canyon beckons from across a dry river valley.

The train wobbles its way like an unsteady caterpillar across spindly bridges, huge cacti leer over the carriages, and the canyon walls draw ever closer in. Tunnels become a regular occurrence (there are 87 along the route); the track snakes along the canyon sides so sinuously that there are places where passengers in the front carriages can wave back at those in the last few carriages who are still rounding a bend that you long since negotiated; and the sandstone towers and pillars that soar thousands of feet above regularly plunge you into shadow.

In the bottom of the canyon the heat can be sticky, oppressive even, and banana trees are a common sight beside the few tiny, isolated ranchos you pass, whilst up above at the canyon rim pine trees creak in the breeze of a climate that, geographically, should be thousands of miles north of that where bananas grow. Here the sub-tropical and sub-alpine are around one vertical mile apart.

There a few stops on the eight hour uphill journey to Creel, but the pace of the train, as you might expect, is slow - climbing a thousand feet an hour is hard going for anyone, especially a train, and the engineering that allows for this huge climb through such harsh terrain is mightily impressive.

The main stop is high up the canyon at El Divisadero. The tourists get off to do the tourist thing. A bunch of no-nonsense dudes in black toting various forms of lethal, bullet-spitting weaponry get off too. These are the Guardia Civil, taking a break from a job well done, that job being protection of the train from bandits. The climate hereabouts is ideal for the cultivation of various forms of narcotics which are regularly smuggled into the USA, and as is so often the case where drugs are concerned this can lead to a certain degree of lawlessness. Ambushing trains which are travelling slowly through narrow defiles, whilst not being a part of everyday life, is still looked upon by some as a risk worth taking to increase one’s disposable income. Hence the men and machine guns.

The ‘tourist thing’ at El Divisadero consists of a hectic 15 minute stop to rush to the canyon’s edge and not actually have time to see the view because you’re too busy taking photos of it. When you’ve done this you can whizz around the stalls of the native Tarahumara Indians in your remaining five minutes and buy souvenirs you neither want nor need. My advice would be to just enjoy the frantic atmosphere as El Divisadero comes alive for 15 minutes each day and save the sightseeing and souvenirs until you get to Creel, where you can make the most of both.

Chugging out of El Divisadero you become very aware that you’re emerging from the canyon and onto its highland rim, where open blue skies look down upon a mix of pines and cactus, and the air has a far fresher feel to the humidity and heat of a few hours ago. This is an invigorating, almost alpine landscape, where snow is common in the winter months, and most travellers will hop off the train at Creel to see a little of it.

Here you’ll find an eclectic mix of old and new Mexico with a bit of wild west thrown in. Indians in traditional clothes rub shoulders with mestizo cowboys in Stetsons and chaps; trucks roll in and out of the railhead dropping off timber from the surrounding forests; and the quieter, dustier streets with their clapboard and mud shacks look like something out of a Clint Eastwood western.

Although Creel ain’t the end of the line, it has the feel of a town that should be, whilst at the same time being big enough - and having enough fantastic scenery around it - to make it a good base for exploring Copper Canyon. You can hire a mountain bike (as I did) or horse, or go on foot to the edge of the canyon, which extends fingers all around Creel, and you can even scramble down an incredibly steep and dusty track to the gin-clear waters of the warm Recohuata springs at the canyon’s base.

Creel, the canyon and the Chihuahua-Pacifico Railroad are all unforgettable, so the more time you can spend with each the more you’ll get out of this little-known corner of Mexico. Just take the slow train and enjoy the ride...

Fact File
The Chihuahua-Pacifico Railroad runs between Los Mochis and Chihuahua in the north of Mexico, and vice versa. Total journey time between the two cities is around 16 hours. Creel is about eight hours from each. The most spectacular section of the line is between Los Mochis and Creel (or vice versa).

Los Mochis has plenty of cheap accommodation, but isn’t the kind of place you’d want to wander around by yourself at night. Best bet here is to get in and out pretty quick as there’s not much to see. There’s a ferry across to Baja Mexico if you’re travelling on.

Creel has a reasonable amount of accommodation too and you’ll be met off the train by people trying to rent you a room. One of the best bets is Marguerite’s, a cool traveller’s guest house where you’ll pick up plenty of tips on where to go and what to see.