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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this 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. 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.

    Read the complete Macuipa write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    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. 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.

    Read the complete Sanctuary of Plateros write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    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. 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.

    Read the complete Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wir write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 172 km into the recorded legs you reach Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wir. Next is back through Sanctuary of Plateros.

  4. 4. back through Sanctuary of Plateros

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Sanctuary of Plateros write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Sanctuary of Plateros, late in the day. Next is Macuipa.

  5. 5. Macuipa

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Macuipa write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    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.

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