Copper Canyon

Copper Canyon is not one canyon but a labyrinth - six rivers have cut the Sierra Tarahumara into a system collectively larger than the Grand Canyon, with the Urique gorge dropping around 1,870 metres from rim to riverbed, deeper than anything in Arizona. The El Chepe railway is the classic way through: opened in 1961 after decades of engineering, it climbs from sea level through 86 tunnels and across 37 bridges to the pine-forested rim, pausing at Divisadero where three canyons collide in one staggering view. This is the homeland of the Raramuri, famed the world over for long-distance running, whose ranchos and crafts thread the sierra. An adventure park at Divisadero adds a cable car and one of the world's longer ziplines over the void, while rough roads switchback down to subtropical canyon-floor villages like Batopilas.

History

The canyons take their name from the copper-green colour of their walls. Spanish settlers reached the area in the 17th century, when silver was found here, and named the local people Tarahumara, from Rarámuri, the people's own word for their men, which some scholars read as "the running people" (Wikipedia, Copper Canyon).

The landscape

• The Divisadero rim - three canyons colliding below the classic viewpoint.
• The El Chepe ride - 86 tunnels and 37 bridges of railway theatre.
• The Urique depths - the system's deepest gorge, warm at the bottom.
• The Raramuri sierra - ranchos, baskets and running culture across the highlands.

When to go

October and November bring green canyons after the summer rains; winter is crisp on the rim, sometimes with snow, while the canyon floors stay warm. Avoid the furnace heat of the depths in late spring.

Things to know

Distances are enormous and the train is the point - book Chepe Express seats well ahead, and note the full line takes most of a day. A quick rim glance from Divisadero undersells the place; stay at least a night. Canyon-floor roads are slow, serpentine and not for nervous drivers.

Nearby

Creel's log-town base, the Basaseachi waterfall and the canyon-floor village of Batopilas.

Key facts