Santiago de Jalpan and San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
97 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 07
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.
97 km from Jalpan to Jalpan, about 2 h 07 of riding. On the way it passes Santa María del Agua de Landa, San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco and back through Santa María del Agua de Landa. 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
This part of the ride is 27 km of Santa María del Agua de Landa → San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco.
Chapter facts
Length
27 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Santiago de Jalpan is where the day begins. Next is Santa María del Agua de Landa.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Santa María del Agua de Landa comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco.
3. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Santiago de Jalpan. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
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 back through Santa María del Agua de Landa
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 Santiago de Jalpan
back through Santa María del Agua de Landa → Santiago de Jalpan is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.