This spectacular journey through rural Mexico offers you the opportunity to drive to Creel, the North gateway of the Canyon. Fantasy designed this trip to minimize the driving and maximize the globe trekker experience. FMCA members will have an enriching experience on this vacation with insight to Mexico's history and culture. You visit the pre-Columbian ruins of Paquime, learn the art of Mata Ortiz pottery - an ancient process from the 12th century - and tour a Mennonite community. On an adventuresome drive to the bottom of the Canyon (in a passenger van) you will have photo opportunities galore. This road to the Canyon floor is one of Mexico's little known most scenic drives and truly "off the beaten track." You spend two nights in a beautiful restored villa and tour the village of Batopilas and the "Lost Cathedral of Satevo." The history of this area dates to before the Spanish conquest. The shy Tarahumara people occupy the Canyon, living in caves and small lean-tos like their ancestors did over 500 years ago. This ancient culture highlights the tour as we visit cave dwellings and learn about their primitive lifestyle.
We make stops at several vistas overlooking the deepest part of the Canyon at Divisadero, 1000 ft deeper than our Grand Canyon. After a scrumptious lunch right on the Canyon rim, we board the Express Train to Bahuichivo for an overnight at a historical hotel and an excursion to view the vast Urique Canyon. If you want to drive less and see more, this Fantasy trip is for you!
Start: Las Cruces, NM
End: Las Cruces, NM
Total Driving Miles: 954
Day 1
Las Cruces, NM
• Orientation
• Peso Exchange Assistance
• Get Acquainted Party
Day 2-3
Nuevo Casa Grandes
• Driving miles 204
• Mexico Welcome Dinner
• Buffet Breakfast
• Area Tour: Mata Ortiz
Pottery, Paquime
Ruins Tour, Hacienda De
San Diego
• Lunch
Day 4-5
Cuauhtemoc
• Driving Miles 190
• Mennonite Dinner
• Mennonite Museum
• Mennonite Lunch in Home
• Optional: Plane Flight
Over Canyon
Day 6
Creel
• Driving Miles 105
• Dinner
Day 7
Batopilas Canyon Floor
• Van to Canyon Floor
• Lunch in Orchard
• Dinner at Hotel
• Overnight in Historic Hotel
Day 8
Batopilas Canyon Floor
• Breakfast
• Tour of Batopilas
• Lunch
• Lost Cathedral Tour
• Dinner
• Overnight in Historic Hotel
• Restored Villa
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Day 9
Creel
• Breakfast in Batopilas
• Van to Creel
• Box Lunch Enroute
• Cave Dwellings
Day 10
Cerocahui
• Canyon Area Bus Tour
• Canyon Rim Bus Tour:
Divisadero Rim
Vista, Walking Tour,
Lunch at Hotel on
Rim
• Express Train to
Bahuichivo
• Bus to Cerocahui
• Mission Tour
• Dinner
• Overnight at Historic Hotel
Day 11
Creel
• Breakfast
• Urique Canyon Overlook
Tour
• Lunch
• Bus to Bahuichivo
• Express Train to Creel
Day 12
Cuauhtemoc
• Driving Miles 105
• Barbeque Cookout
Day 13
Nuevo Casas Grandes
• Driving Miles 190
• Farewell "Molcajetes
Dinner"
Day 14
Border Crossing
• Driving Miles 160
Start: Las Cruces, NM
End: Las Cruces, NM
Total Driving Miles: 994
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• Drive RV to Top of Canyon
• Passenger Van to Canyon Floor
• 2 Days at Canyon Floor
• Paquime Ancient Ruins
• Mennonite Tour and Dinner
• Tarahumara Indian Cave Dwellings
• Canyon Rim Tour
• Express Train to Urique Canyon
Today when Fantasy guests catch their first startling glimpse of the canyon cutting deeper into the earth than the Grand Canyon… all things seem dwarfed by its grandeur.
The closer you get, the more you see. The canyon walls climb from desert flora to high pine forests, wrapping around fertile valleys dotted with crystalline mountain lakes. Intricate twists of the canyon reveal waterfalls, wildlife, archeological sites and the dwellings of the shy Tarahumara Indians, called the most primitive tribe still living in North America. More than 50,000 semi-nomadic natives still live in this region in the traditional style of their ancestors.
The ancient explorers in Copper Canyon had some advantage over contemporary travelers; on foot or horse, they could more easily get an eyeful of this mystical land without a partner nervously reminding them to keep their eyes on the road. Luckily, RVers can now tour this wonderland while gawking and gasping to their heart’s content.
We have incorporated Copper Canyon into many of our Mexico tours... How could we not want to share a place so magical?
