Chalchihuites is a small town in the far west of Zacatecas, on the edge of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and it lies on a stretch of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Royal Road of the Interior Land. Its architectural ensemble, with a parish church and colonial houses around a plaza, is part of the UNESCO listing of the Camino Real. The name comes from the Nahuatl word for jade or greenstone, chalchihuitl, a reference to the turquoise-like stones found in the area, which were prized by the peoples of Mesoamerica.
The town's greatest treasure, however, is much older. A few kilometres away, the archaeological site of Alta Vista was a ceremonial centre of the Chalchihuites culture, which flourished in the first millennium AD on the northern frontier of Mesoamerica. The site sits almost exactly on the Tropic of Cancer, and its builders seem to have known it: the buildings are aligned with the sun's movements, and at the equinoxes and solstices the sun rises over the peak of a nearby mountain, the Picacho Chapín, in a precise alignment. The site includes a hall of columns, a labyrinth and platforms, and it seems to have been an astronomical observatory as well as a ceremonial centre. The area also had extensive mines, where the people of Alta Vista extracted minerals and stones, possibly traded far to the south.
The landscape is high plateau and mountains, with oak and pine forests on the slopes of the Sierra Madre and semi-desert in the valleys. The air is clear and dry, and the views are long. The town is quiet, traditional and far from the tourist trail.
The riding is excellent for those who like empty roads. The roads from Sombrerete and Súchil climb into the foothills of the Sierra Madre with gentle bends, and the scenery becomes more dramatic as you go west, towards the mountains of Durango. Traffic is minimal, but the surface is variable, with potholes and gravel in places, and livestock on the road. Topes appear at the entrance to every village.
Chalchihuites has a few shops and small restaurants, and probably fuel, but it is safer to fill up in Sombrerete, about thirty kilometres away. Check the current travel advice for Zacatecas before you go, ride in daylight, and carry water.