As the countryside flashes past the windows of the Chihuahua-Pacific Express, Mexico reveals a side of itself that is both spectacular and unexpected. You will find it by turns savage, pristine, and lush.
"El Chepe", as the train is known, traverses the country's most remote landscape, a region of rugged splendour called the Copper Canyon. Spanning six prodigious canyons and a labyrinth of some two hundred gorges, this natural wonder is four times the size of the Grand Canyon. Harsh, inaccessible and thoroughly untamed, the canyons are sparsely populated only by the Raramuri, an indigenous agrarian people.
El Chepe's journey commences on Mexico's Pacific coast, in Los Mochis, then trundles through 75km of arid, cactus-strewn wasteland to placid El Fuerte, the gateway to the canyons. From here, the track climbs, the air cools and the scenery shifts, and for the next six hours you roll past one incredible vista after another. In a continual skyward ascent, El Chepe plunges in and out of tunnels, rattles over bridges and makes hair-pin turns.
Colossa! stone cliffs, folds of rock and serpentine rivers flicker by. Above you, mountains rise like fortified cities, while gaping chasms open on either side. Then, all at once, the stone corridor yields to a sweeping plateau of pine-scattered towers and stratified monoliths.
At Divisadero, 300km from Los Mochis and 2000m above sea level, three canyons converge to form an astonishing panorama. The train makes a brief stop here, giving you time to snap some pictures and breathe in the ozone and pine. Creel, another 60km along, is the place to stop for extended excursions, where forests, gorges, waterfalls and hot springs all lie within easy reach.
The 655 kilometre expedition concludes on the desert plains of Chihuahua, though it feels as if you've travelled further. Stepping off the train, you're as likely to feel as humbled as you are exhilarated.
In terms of rail journeys this is one you will never forget. It isn’t just the trip, it’s the people, the sights and sounds, and the sheer scale of the achievement to build this railway line in the first place.
Of course there are many more things to do in Mexico and you trip on El Chepe can of course be incorporated in a much wider vacation. Looked at another way of course, if you want to book a holiday on the coast and you are looking for a big adventure as well then here is your answer. On the other hand you can add on logical extensions to this trip visiting places, or stopping over and rejoining the train after doing some local exploring. The choice is yours, just don't go to this part of Mexico and miss this opportunity.
