Out on the high desert of northern Durango, where the land is pale, flat and ringed by distant ranges, a hacienda is still the most natural sort of landmark. These great estates grew along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the silver road that ran from Mexico City all the way north to Santa Fe in New Mexico, and the stretch near Villa Ocampo is part of the route that UNESCO listed in 2010. Wagons, mule trains, soldiers, friars and miners all passed this way, and the haciendas fed them, watered them and sometimes cheated them.
The country here is huge and quiet. Roads are straight for long stretches and then bend briefly around a dry arroyo or a low hill, with mesquite, huizache and cactus lining the verge and cattle wandering where they like. Tarmac in this region can be patchy, with broken edges and potholes that appear without warning, so keep your speed sensible and your eyes ahead. Distances are large, towns are small, and cell coverage is not something to count on. The best months are October to April, when the sun is bearable. Summer is fiercely hot, and brief thunderstorms in July and August can flood the washes in minutes.
Look at an old hacienda and you read the whole logic of the colonial north. There is usually a big courtyard, a chapel, thick adobe or stone walls, store rooms, stables, and a main house where the owner lived in relative comfort while the workers lived outside the gate. Many are now ruins, softly collapsing back into the earth, with arches still standing against the sky and swallows nesting where the chapel bell once hung. The quiet is remarkable, broken only by wind and the odd dog.
On the practical side, plan carefully. Villa Ocampo is a small town of about a thousand people, and while it may have a small shop and a simple fuel supply, you should not count on it. Fill your tank in a larger place before you come, carry water and some food, and tell somebody your route. Ask permission before walking onto land, since many of these sites sit on private ranches. If you get the pace right, the reward is a feeling of space and unhurried history, a silver road that is now a quiet one.