When I visited Mazatlan last October, I saw a question posted in the Facebook expat group regarding visiting Copper Canyon. Not only is this one of the most unique experiences in Mexico, it is easily done from Mazatlan. Of course, the most efficient way to do this would be to fly to Chihuahua or Los Mochis, but why not extend your experience to include a ferry trip to Baja and a visit to La Paz.

Starting in Chihuahua

One way or the other, you’ve got to figure out how to get between Mazatlan and Chihuahua. I recommend beginning your Copper Canyon trip with a flight to Chihuahua. Viva Aerobus is the only airline that I’ve found that offers a non-stop flight, but it is only on certain days of the week. Personally, I have no problem spending an extra day or two in Chihuahua as it’s a town filled with Mexican history and plenty of nearby attractions like waterfalls and canyons.

The El Chepe site will steer you towards beginning your trip in Creel, which is a 3.5 hour drive from Chihuahua. However, there is a local train that leaves from Chihuahua, and you can buy your ticket in advance when you arrive in Chihuahua. Just take a taxi down to the train station the day before. Same day tickets are available, but I recommend getting there early as it’s a mob scene at the station just before departure. Locate the first class window to avoid the huge lines. You’ll pay more for the first class ticket, but the small difference in ticket price is worth the substantial difference in comfort!

The train goes from Creel to Los Mochis in a single day, but you’d miss out on quite a bit if you did the whole trip in a day. I recommend splitting it into four different legs to get the most out of your Copper Canyon trip: Chihuahua to Creel, Creel to Divisadero, Divisadero to El Fuerte, and El Fuerte to Los Mochis. The trip from Creel to Los Mochis costs the same regardless of how many legs you do it in.

What to do in Creel

Whether you get to Creel by train or by bus, plan to spend at least a full day there. It’s a cute little village, and it is located right next to the Tarahumara reserve. A tour to the reserve will bring you to fantastic rock formations and the villages of the Tarahumara. There is also a lake and a couple of waterfalls worth seeing.

It’s worth noting that the elevation at Creel is 7,710 feet so if you book your trip during the winter, temperatures can easily get to freezing in the evening, and most of the hotels in Creel do not have heaters. If you travel in the winter, be sure to book a room that at least has a fireplace. In my experience, however, it is best to avoid winter in Creel. I’ve had it snow on me during the trip.

What to do in Divisadero

The next stop worth making is Divisadero. This is at the top of the rim looking down into the canyon. At the very least, get off to take pictures during the stop at Divisadero station, but I highly recommend making a reservation to spend a couple nights at Hotel Divisadero.

The first day, you can simply enjoy the views from the hotel. The second day, I recommend the hiking along the rim of the canyon to the adventure park. The hike in itself is amazing, but if you really want to up the experience, you can take the Ziprider zip line. At 1 mile, it is the longest zip line in the world. If that isn’t enough of a superlative, you fly at over 60 mph at 4000 feet in the air! It was one of the scariest and most exhilarating experiences of my life!

You can either take the tram back or continue on with a series of other zip lines back to the park. After your zip experience, you can either walk back to the hotel or continue hiking the canyon rim to the village of Posada Barrancas. This option requires figuring out how to catch the bus or find a taxi back to Divisadero so I wouldn’t do it unless your Spanish is pretty good.

Staying over in El Fuerte

To be honest, I’ve never visited El Fuerte. I will always choose a train over a bus so I tend to finish my Copper Canyon rail trip in Los Mochis. Most people, however, end their trip in El Fuerte. I imagine it’s because El Fuerte is a Pueblo Magical and Los Mochis is just a giant suburb. The good news is that you can do both. Plan to spend a night in El Fuerte, and catch the continuing train to Los Mochis the next day. The other option is to bus from El Fuerte, but I don’t know why you’d choose that over a serpentine train trip out of the canyon.

Transferring in Los Mochis

I find this to be a great town because it’s big enough to find anything you need. It’s fairly relaxing, but there isn’t much to do for a tourist. If you’re good on supplies, just hop off the train and catch a taxi to Topalobampo, the ferry landing for Baja Ferris to La Paz.

The train is scheduled to arrive in Los Mochis around 7:30pm, and the ferry leaves around 11:30pm. The trip by taxi is no more than 40 minutes. There is nothing to do in Topalobampo and restaurants usually close by 9, so don’t rush to get here too early. There is one coffee shop, Alma del Mar, that is open late where you can wait until it’s time to board the ferry.

Topalobampo is one of the few places in Mexico where I felt uncomfortable exploring. While getting to the ferry is easy, heading into the residential area was met with stares and uncharacteristically unfriendly Mexicans.

Since the ferry trip is overnight, I book a berth in advance. It’s cheap and a lot easier for sleeping than the crowded, noisy, and pungent sitting area. You do need to be able to translate Spanish in order to make the reservation as the web site is only in English.

This is not a cruise ship or a passenger ferry. It is a commercial vehicle ferry, and most of the people you’ll be sharing the boat with are truck drivers. It’s for this reason I book the berth. You’d also do well to bring food as the cafe on board it very rudimentary.

What to do in La Paz

You’ll arrive in La Paz first thing in the morning so you’ll have a chance to step out to enjoy the Baja Peninsula as the ferry pulls in. The loading and unloading of the ferry is about the most inefficient spectacle I’ve ever seen. Because the ferry can only be accessed from one side, there is a great amount of shimmying that has to take place in order to get the trucks off the ship. Just like a regular cruise ship, you may have to wait a couple hours before you can disembark. You’ll need to take a bus or taxi to town as it is not walking distance.

La Paz is a small town with not a lot to do, but that’s what makes it perfectly Mexican. There are restaurants, a boardwalk, and plenty of tourist shops. Just a short bus trip north of town are a couple of nice beaches: Playa Blalandra and Playa Pulguero. Buses leave from the station in the center of town. Check their frequency for your return tip.

If you’re up for adventure, you can dive with whale sharks or go whale watching, based on the time of year. Mundo en Foco offers tours with English speaking guides, though the site is in Spanish. This is a great opportunity to enjoy the unique marine life that makes La Paz their winter home.

I usually spend a couple days here before moving on. You can fly almost anywhere from La Paz or even take the bus down to Los Cabos or Todos Santos. To get back to Mazatlan, I like to take Baja Ferries again. It leaves from the same terminal where it dropped you off and arrives in downtown Mazatlan the next day.

This tour makes you feel like you’ve had a complete vacation from your holiday life in Mazatlan. Try it on your own, or contact me to lead your Copper Canyon Adventure.