Entering Sierra Madre mountains

Thus to fully appreciate the Sierra Madre, you may wish to consider a drive down the small highway (or road, really) that traverses the Sierra Madre south of Monterrey. A relatively short drive along this road will place you far away from the city of Monterrey; even the weekend crowds of Cola de Caballo will seem a world away as you drive into the Sierra Madre. Once you get past El Manzano--a small cabin village that is a popular weekend getaway for residents of Monterrey--you'll encounter virtually no traffic except for the occasional off-road vehicle/motorcross bike enjoying the backroads.

The road into the Sierra Madre is the same road that takes you to the Cola de Caballo waterfall--when you get to the parking area for the waterfall, just keep driving on up the winding road. Your elevation will quickly rise and if you look off to the east you'll be treated to some nice views of the valley behind you (see picture to the left).

El Manzano Cabins N25'22.692" W100'14.131"

The winding road will take you higher and higher up the side of the Sierra Madre. The road is paved buts condition borders from excellent to terrible. It's certainly passable by all cars; you don't need 4x4 or a high-clearance vehicle or anything like that. But you may have to take it easy along some stretches of road. After awhile you'll reach the high point of the highway and will descend down into one of the valleys within the Sierra Madre. You will come across "El Manzano" which is one of many cabin villages in the area. Cabins, such as the one pictured to the right, are often rented by residents of Monterrey for weekends away from the city. Although El Manzano is only about an hour drive from Monterrey, it feels like you are much, much further. The prices of cabins vary based on location and size, but a typical 2-bedroom, 3-bed cabin usually goes for about 1100 pesos (US$100) per night on weekends. Prices may be higher during peak Mexican holidays.

El Manzano is a nice play to stay. It's not really that far into the Sierra Madre range so getting back out to civilization is only about a 30 minute drive. But from El Manzano it's a short walk to the entrance of the San Cristobal Canyon (see below), which is the southern extent of the La Huasteca Canyon and where the Santa Catarina river (usually dry) begins. If you walk this canyon far enough, you'll eventually end up in La Huasteca park. You can also rent off-road vehicles in El Manzano which you can use to drive up and down the main highway (very little traffic!) in this valley or explore some of the dirt roads in the area.

Driving further down the road (or riding your rented off-road vehicle) beyond El Manzano, you'll eventually reach San Isidro Canyon (see picture below). The road actually winds through this narrow canyon providing some amazing views.

San Cristobal Canyon

Dirt trail for offroading

San Isidro Canyon N25'22.861" W100'18.533"

If you continue on, you'll eventually read a poorly marked road to the right--this is the road you want to take if you want to continue out the western end of the Sierra Madre, swing through Saltillo, and then take the main highway back to Monterrey. If you've gotten this far it might not be a bad idea to just keep driving until you hit the 4-lane highway that takes you to Saltillo and then back to Monterrey; you can also just turn around and go back the way you came, but if you've gone that far, why go back and see the same scenery again?

In any case, the fork in the road is at N25'21.426" W100'18.474"--when you get there, turn right (west). If you miss this turn-off you'll start going up and up a hill until you get to a rather quaint, if not run-down, village called Languna de Sanchez. This is a dead-end in the highway so unless you know someone there there's really no reason to come here. Just take the Saltillo turn-off mentioned above.

Looking back at the Sierra Madre

As you drive towards Saltill you'll have a little bit more curvy mountain-road driving and you'll be treated to some last spectacular views such as the one to the right. Feel free to pull off if you're able and enjoy the view, take some pictures, or relax.

Once you get past the final mountainous area, the highway will become quite a bit straighter, the condition of the road will improve, and pretty soon you'll be able to open it up and start driving a good 50-60 mph. Once you get out of the mountains there really isn't too much to see so you won't miss much by driving the speed limit.

After passing a couple of small towns you'll reach highway 57 which is a 4-lane north/south highway. Follow the signs to go northbound (towards the city of Saltillo) on this highway. When you get to a point where you can choose between "Libre" (free) or "Cuota" (toll), veer right and take the toll road. This will allow you to avoid the city of Saltillo and connect to the highway to Monterrey. As of this writing (April 2005) the toll for this 10-mile strip of highway is 33 pesos. As the toll road ends you'll want to follow the signs to Monterrey which basically means you'll veer right at the end of the toll road. This will dump you onto highway 40 which is a free, 4-lane highway directly to Monterrey. This is a good quality road, but drive carefully--especially if there is fog. Although the road is in good condition there are often a lot of accidents due to people driving to fast in limited visibility, or simply driving too fast and losing it on a curve. Just drive safe and reasonable and you'll be fine. It's about a 30 minute drive from the end of the highway 57 toll-road to Monterrey. You'll be approaching Monterrey from the west and highway 40 will eventually turn into Constitucion Avenue which will take you right past downtown.