Mexico Trails

Route 37: The Valley of the Monks Distance: 16 km return Time: 6-7 hours return Difficulty: Easy to moderate Hazards: High altitude; Can be dusty in high winds Elevation Change: Very little Topo Maps: G-13-A-22 Creel Attractions: Unusual rock formations; small villages From the entrance to the Villa Mexicana Campground [13R 0240195; UTM 3071107], walk south for about 2 minutes till you come to a fork in the streets. Just past the “Mini Super Amador” a paved street forks to the right and leads up to the highway. The other street is dirt and goes straight ahead. Continue straight ahead on the dirt street. After about another 2 minutes (just past the lumber operation on the right-hand side) the dirt street forks. Take the left fork that goes past the cemetery. You are now on a dirt road that leads out of town. In about 5 minutes you’ll come to a toll booth where the local ejido collects a small fee from tourists using their trails. In just over a kilometer from the toll booth there is a trail that branches off to the right [13R 0241965; UTM 3069878] with a sign that says, “Bienbenido Valle de los Hongos” with an arrow pointing to the right and “Bienbenido Valle de los Monges a 6 km “ with an arrow pointing left. The trail branching right leads to the Valley of Mushrooms just 200 meters or so off the road. What you do here is walk in and take a look at the unusual formations, then come back to the main dirt road. Just ahead is the little settlement of San Ignacio with its small church, school and several houses scattered about. Continue walking on the dirt road that passes to the left of the village. Within a kilometer past the village there is a footpath heading off to the left [13R 0243532; UTM 3070343]. By taking this footpath you can return to Creel. However, to continue on to the Valley of the Monks, continue walking east down the dirt road. In just over another kilometer you’ll come to a dirt track branching off to the right with reddish-orange arrows on fence posts pointing off to the right [13R 0244383; UTM 3069906]. Don’t take this branch, but carry on straight ahead (east). 400 meters further is a bridge over a small stream. Just before the bridge a dirt track branches to the right. Continue over the bridge and straight ahead for about another 150 meters to where the road forks again [13R 0245051; UTM 3069617]. The main road forks up to the right over a small rise. The left fork is a lesser used dirt track heading straight on. You can take either fork as they meet up again at the top of the rise. Another 2.5 km further on is the little village of Gonogchi. Just before entering the village the road forks [13R 0247034; UTM 3069551]. From this fork in the road a school building can be seen off to the right. Take the left fork and follow the dirt track for another kilometer which takes you into the Valley of the Monks. Here one can go and ramble among the strange rock formations. You can return to Creel by the same route you came in on. An alternative way to return to Creel is to take the footpath that was noted earlier in the route description at GPS reading [13R 0243532; UTM 3070343] (just over a kilometer east of San Ignacio). Turn right onto this foot path which quickly joins up with a dirt track. Follow the dirt track for Rock formations in Valley of the Monks a short distance till you come to a fork in the dirt tracks [13R 0243104; UTM 3070784]. Take the narrow concrete bridge across the stream and follow the foot path up the rock hill. About 700 meters along this foot path another footpath joins from the left [13R 0242471; UTM 3071137]. There is red paint on a tree and a rock at this junction. There is a blaze on a tree just ahead. This trail is well used and easy to follow. Within the next 1.3 km you come to the highest point along the trail [13R 0241171; UTM 3071934]. From here you can see the town of Creel spread out down below. The trail now drops down and eventually joins with a dirt track coming up from the left. Turn left and follow the dirt track down to Creel. When you get to the bottom of the dirt track, take the first street to the left which is a short street, right onto another dirt street, left onto a short paved street which takes you onto a wider paved street. Turn right. This street takes you out to the main streets of the town: Calle Elfido Batista and Avenida Lopez Mateos.