CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
From Mapimí it runs 395 km to Mapimí; allow about 7 h 34 of riding. The stops in between: Town of San Pedro del Gallo, Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza, Chapel of the former hacienda of La Limpia and back through Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
The suspension bridge at Ojuela is the first thing most visitors see, and it hangs across a canyon in the desert of Durango like something out of a Western. Built in 1898 by the firm of the Roebling family, the engineers behind the Brooklyn Bridge, it spans about three hundred metres and carries the old mine track across the gorge to the entrance of the Ojuela mine. For years the bridge was in a bad state, and it has been restored for walkers, though you should cross carefully and listen to the guides.
Read the complete Mine of Ojuela write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mine of Ojuela is where the day begins. Next is Town of San Pedro del Gallo.
San Pedro del Gallo is a very small town in a very big landscape, and that is precisely its appeal. Fewer than a thousand people live here, in the high desert of northern Durango, among dry plains, low mountains and endless sky, and the town grew up as a stop on the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the royal road that linked Mexico City with the northern frontier and Santa Fe. San Pedro del Gallo is one of the places included in the UNESCO listing of the Camino Real, with its church, simple adobe houses and the quiet atmosphere of a place where time moves slowly.
Read the complete Town of San Pedro del Gallo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Town of San Pedro del Gallo comes up about 89 km into the recorded legs. Next is Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza.
Nazas is a small town on the river of the same name in the north of the state of Durango, where the Sierra Madre Occidental gives way to the high, dry basins of the Mexican interior. It sits on the route of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the old royal road that ran north from Mexico City to Santa Fe, carrying silver, mercury, goods and settlers for nearly three centuries. A group of its historic buildings, around the main square and church, was included in the UNESCO listing of the Camino Real in 2010.
Read the complete Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 139 km into the recorded legs you reach Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza. Next is Chapel of the former hacienda of La Limpia.
There is something quietly impressive about a chapel standing alone in the Chihuahuan desert. La Limpia was a hacienda in what is now the state of Durango, one of the big estates that organised life across northern Mexico from the seventeenth century onward. Haciendas were farms, ranches, sometimes mines and always small worlds, with owners, workers, a granary, stables and a chapel for religious life. Most have faded, and the chapel is often what survives when the rest has crumbled.
Read the complete Chapel of the former hacienda of La Limpia write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Chapel of the former hacienda of La Limpia, about halfway. Next is back through Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza sits at 253 km, about halfway. Next is back through Town of San Pedro del Gallo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Town of San Pedro del Gallo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Town of San Pedro del Gallo comes up about 306 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mine of Ojuela.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mine of Ojuela write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mine of Ojuela closes the day.
Mine of Ojuela → Town of San Pedro del Gallo is 89 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Town of San Pedro del Gallo → Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza → Chapel of the former hacienda of La Limpia is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chapel of the former hacienda of La Limpia → back through Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Architectonic ensemble of the Town of Naza → back through Town of San Pedro del Gallo is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Town of San Pedro del Gallo → Mine of Ojuela is 89 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.