Skip to content
CurveScout

CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

San Miguel Concá and Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
269 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 51
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 269 km round trip from Concá - roughly 5 h 51 in the saddle. It goes by way of Santiago de Jalpan, Santa María del Agua de Landa, San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco and Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.

Scenic road chapters

Santa María del Agua de Landa → San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco

27 km on Santa María del Agua de Landa → San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco.

Chapter facts
Length
27 km

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. San Miguel Concá

    The five Franciscan missions of the Sierra Gorda are a very odd thing to find in the Mexican mountains: grand baroque churches, painted in pinks and yellows and covered in stone carvings, set in villages that are otherwise made of low houses and cornfields. San Miguel Conca is one of them. Father Junipero Serra, who would later found the missions of California, led the work here in the 1750s with the help of the local Pame people, and the facade of the church shows the mix of cultures that built it, with saints and angels carved beside local plants, mermaids and faces that look more indigenous than European. All five missions were listed as a World Heritage site in 2003.

    Read the complete San Miguel Concá write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    San Miguel Concá is where the day begins. Next is Santiago de Jalpan.

  2. 2. Santiago de Jalpan

    Fray Junípero Serra, later famous for his missions in California, started his career in the Sierra Gorda, a rugged, forested range in northern Querétaro, and the church at Jalpan is where it began. Built in the mid-eighteenth century by Franciscan friars and the local Pame people, it is the central one of five missions in the region, and the facade is covered with colourful stucco figures of saints, flowers and angels, a mix of baroque tradition and indigenous imagination. UNESCO listed the five missions in 2003.

    Read the complete Santiago de Jalpan write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Santiago de Jalpan comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Santa María del Agua de Landa.

  3. 3. Santa María del Agua de Landa

    High in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro, Franciscan missionaries led by Junípero Serra in the mid eighteenth century built five mission churches, and their facades are an explosion of carved and painted plaster: angels, saints, flowers, fruit, mermaids and symbols that blend Catholic imagery with the local indigenous world. The mission of Santa María del Agua de Landa, in the village of Landa de Matamoros, has one of the most elaborate facades, glowing in pink and ochre. The five missions were listed together as a World Heritage Site in 2003. Serra went on to found the missions of California.

    Read the complete Santa María del Agua de Landa write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach Santa María del Agua de Landa. Next is San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco.

  4. 4. San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco

    In the middle of the eighteenth century, a group of Franciscan friars led by Junipero Serra, later famous for his missions in California, set about building five churches in the Sierra Gorda of Queretaro, one of the roughest, most remote parts of central Mexico. The mission of San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco is one of the five, along with Jalpan, Landa, Concá and Tancoyol, and together they were inscribed as World Heritage in 2003 as the Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda. The church at Tilaco stands in a small village, and its facade is covered with stucco decoration in a style that mixes European baroque with local imagery, with saints, flowers, and symbols that might have been designed by the indigenous workers who built it.

    Read the complete San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco, about halfway. Next is Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of.

  5. 5. Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of

    In the 1740s and 1750s, Franciscan friars led by Junipero Serra, the same man who would later found missions in California, arrived in the Sierra Gorda, a rugged range in the state of Queretaro, to bring the Pame and other indigenous peoples into mission communities. The five missions they built, at Jalpan, Landa, Tilaco, Tancoyol and Conca, are among the most extraordinary churches in Mexico. Their facades are covered in vivid, almost wild, baroque decoration, with saints, angels, flowers, and symbols that seem to reflect local indigenous hands as much as European ones. UNESCO listed them in 2003.

    Read the complete Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of sits at 120 km, about halfway. Next is back through San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco.

  6. 6. back through San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco comes up about 184 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Santa María del Agua de Landa.

  7. 7. back through Santa María del Agua de Landa

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Santa María del Agua de Landa write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 211 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Santa María del Agua de Landa. Next is back through Santiago de Jalpan.

  8. 8. back through Santiago de Jalpan

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Santiago de Jalpan write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Santiago de Jalpan, late in the day. Next is San Miguel Concá.

  9. 9. San Miguel Concá

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete San Miguel Concá 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 269 km.

Leg by leg

San Miguel Concá to Santiago de Jalpan

San Miguel Concá → Santiago de Jalpan is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Santiago de Jalpan to Santa María del Agua de Landa

Santiago de Jalpan → Santa María del Agua de Landa is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Santa María del Agua de Landa to San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco

Santa María del Agua de Landa → San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco to Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of

San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco → Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of to back through San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco

Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of → back through San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco to back through Santa María del Agua de Landa

back through San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco → back through Santa María del Agua de Landa is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Santa María del Agua de Landa to back through Santiago de Jalpan

back through Santa María del Agua de Landa → back through Santiago de Jalpan is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Santiago de Jalpan to San Miguel Concá

back through Santiago de Jalpan → San Miguel Concá is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

More motorcycle rides nearby