Grutas de Garcia

The Grutas de Garcia sit high on the Cerro del Fraile, and the approach is half the outing: a cable car climbs several hundred metres from the valley station to the cave entrance, with the Sierra Madre and the plains behind Monterrey opening below. Inside, the tour follows a lit walkway through a sequence of enormous chambers - the largest tens of metres high - past columns, curtains, stalactite forests and the formations that guides have named for decades: the eighth wonder, the corn field, the frozen waterfall. The rock is marine limestone, and fossils of shells and corals are visible in places, evidence that this mountain was seabed some fifty to sixty million years ago; the caves themselves formed later as water dissolved the stone, and were discovered by a priest in 1843. The full circuit runs about a kilometre and a half with steps and slopes throughout. Outside, the site has picnic areas and a pool complex, and the drive back to Monterrey passes the climbing walls of Potrero Chico.

History

The caves are thought to have formed between 50 and 60 million years ago and were once under the sea, which is why shells can be seen in their walls; they stayed hidden until Fray Juan Antonio de Sobrevilla came upon them on an excursion through the mountains (Wikipedia, Grutas de García).

What you'll find

• The cable car - the ride up the mountain face.
• The great chambers - lit halls of columns and curtains.
• The marine fossils - shells in the ancient seabed rock.
• The valley views - Sierra Madre from the cave mouth.

When to go

October to April for pleasant valley weather; the cave holds a steady temperature year-round. Weekends and holidays queue at the cable car - arrive early.

What to expect

Tours are guided in Spanish, in groups, on a fixed route with many steps - not suitable for limited mobility. The cable car closes in high wind. Photography without flash only in most sections.

Nearby

Potrero Chico's climbing park is minutes away; Monterrey and its mountain parks lie an hour east.

Key facts