Silver built this road, and the old church at San Jose de Avino is one of the buildings that mark it. The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro was the great highway of colonial Mexico, running more than two thousand kilometres from Mexico City north to Santa Fe in New Mexico, used by mule trains carrying silver south and supplies north for nearly three centuries. A section of it, with a number of towns and monuments along the way, was listed as a World Heritage site in 2010. Avino was a mining settlement in the hills of Durango, one of the earliest silver camps of the north, and the temple stands in the village as a reminder of the money and faith that came with the mine.
The country around is high plateau, dry and open, with scrub, yucca and prickly pear, and a sky that goes on forever. In winter the nights can be frosty, and the mornings are sharp and clear. To the east, across the border into Zacatecas, the Sierra de Organos rises from the plain, a set of basalt cliffs in tall columns that look like the pipes of a giant church organ. The rocks are so striking that a number of Western films were shot there, and the walking trails among the pillars are popular.
For a rider, the Mexican plateau offers long, straight, quiet roads, with distant ranges, the occasional village and big skies. Highway 45 between Durango and Zacatecas follows the old trade route, and traffic on it is mixed, with lorries and buses. Watch for cattle, potholes and the sudden appearance of speed bumps, called topes, in villages. Winds can be strong on the open plains, and the distances between towns are long, so do not rely on reaching a station late in the day. Winter mornings can be below freezing at this altitude, which is about two thousand metres.
Ciudad Guadalupe Victoria, twenty kilometres away, is the nearest sizeable town, with fuel stations, shops and basic hotels. In the smaller villages, services are limited, but you will often find a family kitchen serving beans, tortillas, cheese and strong coffee. Durango is known for its mescal and its beef, and local people are friendly to travellers who stop. Plan your day around the light, because the colours of the plateau are best in the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, when the hills glow.