Why this ride
A dense sequence of passes, valleys and viewpoint roads. It also links naturally to Pre-Hispanic City of Palenque.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Chiapas Highlands Loop
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 425 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 39
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Verify security, road condition, daylight-only routing and local advisories. Specific flag: security review; landslides.
Seasonal context
Nov-Apr
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. San Cristóbal de las Casas
San Cristóbal de las Casas sits at about 2,200 metres in a bowl of pine and oak forest in the Chiapas highlands, and the altitude shapes everything. The mornings are cold, the afternoons bright and the evenings smoky with wood fires, and the old streets, cobbled and low, are lined with houses painted in ochre and red. Diego de Mazariegos founded the town in 1528, and it was later renamed for Bartolomé de las Casas, the Dominican bishop who spoke up for the Indigenous population. On New Year's Day 1994 the Zapatista rebels briefly took over the town hall, and the uprising still shapes the politics of the region.
Read the complete San Cristóbal de las Casas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
San Cristóbal de las Casas sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Ocosingo.
2. Ocosingo
Toniná is the reason to linger in Ocosingo. A few kilometres east of town, the ruins of this Maya city rise up a hillside in a stack of terraces, platforms and temples that climbs some seventy metres from the valley floor, one of the tallest built structures in the Maya world. In the seventh and eighth centuries Toniná was a fierce military power, and its carvings show bound captives, including, according to its inscriptions, a king of Palenque. It is far less visited than Palenque, and you may have it almost to yourself.
Read the complete Ocosingo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ocosingo comes up 80 km in. Next is Palenque.
3. Palenque
Howler monkeys start the day in Palenque. Their roars echo through the jungle before dawn, and if you reach the ruins when the gates open, the mist still clings to the trees and the temples emerge slowly from the green. This Maya city, which flourished between the fifth and eighth centuries, stands on a shelf of hills above the plains of Tabasco, backed by dense rainforest, and it is one of the most beautiful archaeological sites in the Americas.
Read the complete Palenque write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
161 km in you reach Palenque. Next is San Cristóbal de las Casas.
4. San Cristóbal de las Casas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete San Cristóbal de las Casas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
San Cristóbal de las Casas, late in the day.
Recorded source links
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Chiapas Highlands Route (398 km) · 274 km