In the 1740s and 1750s, Franciscan friars led by Junipero Serra, the same man who would later found missions in California, arrived in the Sierra Gorda, a rugged range in the state of Queretaro, to bring the Pame and other indigenous peoples into mission communities. The five missions they built, at Jalpan, Landa, Tilaco, Tancoyol and Conca, are among the most extraordinary churches in Mexico. Their facades are covered in vivid, almost wild, baroque decoration, with saints, angels, flowers, and symbols that seem to reflect local indigenous hands as much as European ones. UNESCO listed them in 2003.
Jalpan is the main town and the best base. The church sits on a plaza, its pale tower and richly ornamented front glowing in the afternoon light, and the town is relaxed and friendly, with a good market. The other missions are scattered in the hills, each at the end of a pleasant drive through villages of orchards, maize fields and stone walls. The Sierra Gorda is also a biosphere reserve with remarkable variety, from dry scrub to cloud forest, jaguars in the deeper valleys, and a startling number of bird species.
The riding is excellent. The road from Pinal de Amoles down to Jalpan, the famous Highway 120 through the mountains, is a long run of tight bends and hairpins that drops from pine forest to subtropical valley, and it is one of the best twisty roads in central Mexico. The surface is mostly good, but fog, landslides after rain, and the occasional cow keep you honest. The roads between the missions are quieter, narrower and more varied. Early morning is best, before the heat and the buses.
Jalpan has fuel, food and basic hotels, and a visit is easy to turn into a loop. The best seasons are autumn and spring; summer brings heavy rain and winter can be chilly at altitude. Local specialities include gorditas, and in the villages you may be offered strong coffee grown in the same mountains. Take it, and sit awhile under the church wall.