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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

San Miguel Concá and San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
403 km
Riding-time estimate
9 h 46
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.

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Why this ride

A 403 km round trip from Concá - roughly 9 h 46 in the saddle. The stops in between: Santiago de Jalpan, Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol, Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of and San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.

Scenic road chapters

Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of → San Francisco del Valle d

50 km on Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of → San Francisco del Valle d.

Chapter facts
Length
50 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 Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol.

  3. 3. Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol

    Tancoyol is one of the last of the Sierra Gorda missions to be built, and it is perhaps the one that feels most remote. The church of Nuestra Señora de la Luz stands in a small village in the valley of the Santa María river, in the north of Querétaro, with a tall, intricate facade covered with plaster figures, flowers and symbols, a combination of European baroque and the imagination of the Pame people who helped to build it. UNESCO listed the five Sierra Gorda missions together in 2003, and Tancoyol is the quietest of them.

    Read the complete Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 93 km into the recorded legs you reach Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol. Next is Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of.

  4. 4. 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, about halfway. Next is San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco.

  5. 5. 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 sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of.

  6. 6. back through Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    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

    back through Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of comes up about 250 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol.

  7. 7. back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 309 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol. 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 403 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 Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol

Santiago de Jalpan → Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol to Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of

Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol → Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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

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

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

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

back through Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of to back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol

back through Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of → back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol to back through Santiago de Jalpan

back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol → back through Santiago de Jalpan is 58 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.

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