Copper Canyon (Barranca del Cobre)

Copper Canyon — Barranca del Cobre in Spanish — is a system of six interconnected canyons in the Sierra Tarahumara range of Chihuahua, northern Mexico, together forming a canyon network larger in total area than the Grand Canyon and deeper in several key points. The canyon walls are tinged copper-green from mineral oxidation, giving the system its name. The primary means of experiencing Copper Canyon is the Chepe train, formally the Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacifico — one of the great scenic railway journeys in the world — which winds 650 kilometers from Chihuahua city to Los Mochis on the Pacific coast, passing through 87 tunnels and over 37 bridges while descending from pine forests at 2,400 meters elevation to tropical coastal vegetation near sea level. The journey passes over canyon bridges with drops of hundreds of meters visible directly below the carriage windows. Key stopping points include Divisadero, perched directly on the canyon rim with vertiginous 1,800-meter views to the canyon floor below, and Creel, a mountain village serving as the main base for hiking to waterfalls, hot springs, unusual rock formations, and Tarahumara (Rarámuri) indigenous communities. The Rarámuri people are renowned for extraordinary long-distance running ability and produce distinctive woven crafts sold in Creel. Batopilas, reachable from Creel by a dramatically winding descent road, is a former silver-mining town at the bottom of a canyon branch. Visitors typically spend two to four days on the full route to allow time at multiple stops. The first-class Chepe Express runs three times weekly in each direction.