Hoyo Cimarron

The Hoyo Cimarron is a sinkhole in the limestone plateau near Nenton, a near-cylindrical shaft of around a hundred and fifty metres across and a comparable depth, with vertical walls of pale rock and a floor of forest at the bottom that has grown up in the shelter of the hole. It formed when the roof of a very large cave chamber collapsed. Standing at the rim, the scale is difficult to take in: birds circle below eye level and the trees at the bottom look like scrub. There is no way down for visitors. The country around is dry limestone scrub, hot and sparsely settled, and the site is managed by the community with a fee.

What you actually see

• A cylindrical shaft in the rock - vertical walls around a hundred and fifty metres across.
• Forest at the bottom - trees grown up in the shelter of the hole.
• Birds circling below the rim - the scale seen from above.
• Dry limestone country - the plateau the sinkhole opens in.

When to go

January through April, in the dry season. Half a day. Morning light reaches into the hole better than afternoon light. It is hot and unshaded at the rim.

Honest expectations

The rim is unfenced with a vertical drop and there is no barrier of any kind; keep well back. There is no descent for visitors. Facilities are none. Access tracks are rough and the site is remote.

Nearby

Nenton is south-east; the Candelaria cenotes lie nearby.