Why this ride
It goes by way of Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié, Huirjcuta: Raunax, Huacuri Quitenie and Tuy Mayau. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Huiricuta: Mucuyahue and Tuy Mayau
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 414 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 13 h 34
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Huiricuta: Mucuyahue
In the high desert of San Luis Potosí, below the mountains of the Sierra de Catorce, lies Wirikuta, the most sacred landscape of the Wixárika people, better known as the Huichol. Every year, pilgrims walk or drive hundreds of kilometres from their homes in the mountains of Jalisco and Nayarit to this semi-desert, following a route they believe their ancestors travelled at the beginning of time. According to their tradition, the sun was born on the hill called Cerro Quemado above Real de Catorce, and the desert is where they come to collect hikuri, the peyote cactus, which they consider a sacred plant and use in ceremonies. The various sacred sites along the pilgrimage, including this one, are on Mexico's tentative list for World Heritage.
Read the complete Huiricuta: Mucuyahue write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Huiricuta: Mucuyahue is where the day begins. Next is Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié.
2. Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié
Wirikuta, or Huiricuta, is the sacred desert of the Wixárika people, a high, arid plain at the foot of the Sierra de Catorce in San Luis Potosí. In Wixárika belief, it is the place where the sun was born, and each year pilgrims travel here from their homeland in the Sierra Madre Occidental, hundreds of kilometres away, to collect hikuri, the peyote cactus, which plays a central role in their ceremonies, and to leave offerings at sacred sites. Maxa Yaritsié is one of those sites. The Cerro del Quemado, the burnt hill, rising above the desert near Real de Catorce, is the most sacred of all, the place where the sun first rose. Visitors should behave with respect: these are living religious sites, not tourist attractions, and collecting peyote is illegal for non-indigenous people and deeply offensive to the Wixárika.
Read the complete Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié comes up about 47 km into the recorded legs. Next is Huirjcuta: Raunax.
3. Huirjcuta: Raunax
For the Wixarika people, also known as the Huichol, the high desert of San Luis Potosí is the place where the sun was born, and every year pilgrims walk or travel hundreds of kilometres from their mountain villages in Jalisco and Nayarit to Wirikuta, a sacred landscape around the old mining town of Real de Catorce.
Read the complete Huirjcuta: Raunax write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 84 km into the recorded legs you reach Huirjcuta: Raunax. Next is Huacuri Quitenie.
4. Huacuri Quitenie
Somewhere in the creosote flats north of Charcas, in San Luis Potosí, the land that the Wixárika people call Wirikuta begins to feel different, even to a visitor who knows nothing of its meaning. The horizon widens, the mountains of the Sierra de Catorce rise to the east, and on a clear morning the whole desert seems to hum. Huacuri Quitenie is one of the sacred places along the Wixárika pilgrimage route to Wirikuta, where pilgrims stop to pray and leave offerings on their way to Leunar, the hill they call Cerro Quemado, where the sun was born.
Read the complete Huacuri Quitenie write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Huacuri Quitenie, about halfway. Next is Tuy Mayau.
5. Tuy Mayau
Out in the high desert of San Luis Potosí, near the town of Charcas, lies a landscape that for the Wixárika people, often called the Huichol, is the most sacred place on earth. Wirikuta is the land where, in their cosmology, the sun was born, and each year pilgrims walk or travel hundreds of kilometres from their homeland in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Jalisco and Nayarit to reach it, visiting a chain of sacred springs, hills and other sites along the way.
Read the complete Tuy Mayau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tuy Mayau sits at 159 km, about halfway. Next is back through Huacuri Quitenie.
6. back through Huacuri Quitenie
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Huacuri Quitenie write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Huacuri Quitenie comes up about 262 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Huirjcuta: Raunax.
7. back through Huirjcuta: Raunax
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Huirjcuta: Raunax write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 330 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Huirjcuta: Raunax. Next is back through Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié.
8. back through Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié, late in the day. Next is Huiricuta: Mucuyahue.
9. Huiricuta: Mucuyahue
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Huiricuta: Mucuyahue write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 414 km.
Leg by leg
Huiricuta: Mucuyahue to Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié
Huiricuta: Mucuyahue → Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié to Huirjcuta: Raunax
Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié → Huirjcuta: Raunax is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Huirjcuta: Raunax to Huacuri Quitenie
Huirjcuta: Raunax → Huacuri Quitenie is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Huacuri Quitenie to Tuy Mayau
Huacuri Quitenie → Tuy Mayau is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tuy Mayau to back through Huacuri Quitenie
Tuy Mayau → back through Huacuri Quitenie is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Huacuri Quitenie to back through Huirjcuta: Raunax
back through Huacuri Quitenie → back through Huirjcuta: Raunax is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Huirjcuta: Raunax to back through Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié
back through Huirjcuta: Raunax → back through Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié to Huiricuta: Mucuyahue
back through Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsié → Huiricuta: Mucuyahue is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.