Macuipa and Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wir
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
345 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 44
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.
A 345 km round trip from Zacatecas - roughly 5 h 44 in the saddle. On the way it passes Sanctuary of Plateros, Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wir and back through Sanctuary of Plateros. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Macuipa
Macuipa lies on the edge of Zacatecas, the silver capital of northern Mexico, and the name points to the sacred geography of the Wixárika, the Huichol people, whose pilgrimage route passes through this region on its way from their homeland in the Sierra Madre Occidental to Wirikuta, the sacred desert in San Luis Potosí. For centuries, Wixárika pilgrims have walked this route, hundreds of kilometres long, visiting springs, hills and rocks where their deities dwell, leaving offerings and performing ceremonies. The route has recently been recognised by UNESCO. Exactly what is to be seen at Macuipa is not easy to say from a distance; treat it as a place where two very different worlds, the Spanish silver city and the indigenous sacred landscape, meet.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Macuipa is where the day begins. Next is Sanctuary of Plateros.
2. Sanctuary of Plateros
Plateros is a small town on the edge of the high desert plateau in Zacatecas, a few kilometres from the silver city of Fresnillo, and it exists, more or less, because of one small figure on an altar. The Santo Nino de Atocha, a child dressed as a pilgrim and carrying a basket and a staff, is revered here as a protector of travellers, prisoners and the sick. The devotion came from Spain, where the original image belongs to the shrine of Atocha in Madrid, and it was carried across the Atlantic by the Spanish miners who came for Zacatecas silver. The sanctuary at Plateros became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Mexico.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sanctuary of Plateros comes up about 66 km into the recorded legs. Next is Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wir.
3. Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wir
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Macuipa. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Macuipa to Sanctuary of Plateros
Macuipa → Sanctuary of Plateros is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sanctuary of Plateros to Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wir
Sanctuary of Plateros → Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wir is 106 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wir to back through Sanctuary of Plateros
Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wir → back through Sanctuary of Plateros is 106 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Sanctuary of Plateros to Macuipa
back through Sanctuary of Plateros → Macuipa is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.