West of Jerez, in Zacatecas, the land starts to fold into the long ridges of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and somewhere in these hills runs the path that Wixárika pilgrims follow from their homeland in the mountains of Jalisco and Nayarit toward Wirikuta, their sacred desert far to the east. The route, listed by UNESCO in 2025, is not a road in the usual sense but a chain of sacred places, springs, hills and caves where the pilgrims stop to pray, leave offerings and remember the journey of their ancestors, who according to tradition walked this way at the beginning of the world.
Jerez de García Salinas, thirty kilometres away, is one of Mexico's Pueblos Mágicos, a charming colonial town with a beautiful small theatre, the Teatro Hinojosa, said to be modelled on Ford's Theatre in Washington, and the birthplace of the poet Ramón López Velarde, whose poem Suave Patria is learned by schoolchildren across the country. Its Easter festivities are famous.
The riding here is genuinely good. The roads climbing west from Jerez into the hills are twisty and quiet, with views over valleys and ridges, and the climate is pleasant thanks to the altitude, warm in the day and cool at night. Surfaces vary from good to rough, and there are topes, the Mexican speed bumps, in every village. Livestock wander onto the road, and afternoon storms in the summer rainy season can bring sudden downpours and washed-out gravel. Travel in daylight and plan your fuel stops carefully, as stations are spread out.
Jerez has fuel, hotels, restaurants and a lively market. Zacatecan food is hearty: asado de boda, a pork stew in a rich chile sauce traditionally served at weddings, gorditas filled with everything imaginable, and mezcal from the region. Ask locally about road conditions and safety before heading into the more remote parts of the sierra. As for the sacred sites, they are not tourist attractions: if you find one, keep your distance, leave everything as it is, and let the pilgrims and their ancestors have the hills to themselves.