Expeditions West: The Sierra Madre- Nuevo Creel to Batopilas and Satevo

Cusarare Falls

A Tarahumaran woman tends her crop at Cusarare

We took our time leaving the comforts of our cabin in Creel, filled with anticipation of the territory ahead. Creel is known as the gateway to the Sierra Madre and its canyon treasures, providing the last vestiges of convenience and connectivity to the luxuries of a pavement bound traveler.

We filled the tanks in our trucks to maximum capacity in preparation for the nearly 300 miles of dirt tracks we would travel in our route to the sea. I installed a 22 gallon auxiliary fuel tank in my Tacoma for this trip, bringing my total fuel on board to 40.5 gallons, or 153 liters. The Land Cruiser UZJ 100 is also equipped with an auxiliary tank, with a total capacity of 70 gallons, or 264 liters. Fuel is present in some areas of the canyon system, but quality and availability can be dubious, so the additional reserves provided a measure of safety.

The falls at Cusarare are a little know gem along the route to Samachique, only 20km from Creel. There is a large parking area and a fee of 15 pesos is required by the "El Comite Pro-Conservacion de las Riquezas Naturales" for entrance to the trail. This hiking trail starts in a small valley, lined with Tarahumaran homes and small corn fields. They paid no attention to the tourist walking past, as the steadily collected the dried cobs from the stalks. The trail narrows to a footpath and continues for 2km to the falls. There were small groups of Tarahumaran women and children that were selling blankets, bracelets and other items. The people are true artisans, with a gentle, shy way about them.

The trail does become slightly more challenging to hike as it nears the falls. The area around the falls is complete with restrooms and several lookouts to the cascada. We took pictures and enjoyed the view down the canyon. Cusarare is translated to "the flight of eagles" from Raramuri, and we searched the sky in hopes of a sighting.


	We hiked out the 2km back to the trucks a drove the remaining 55km to Samachique. The actual road to Batopilas is a few KM past the town, and is very clearly marked. We turned off the pavement into a nice parking area and began the process of airing down the tires (for ride quality), and double checking that our equipment was secure. We turned south on to the graded road and began our descent from nearly 8,000 feet to 1,782 at Satevo Mission.

Samachique to La Bufa

The dirt road descending into Batopilas Canyon is actually quite good though narrow for the amount of traffic it sees. We settled into a comfortable pace and several of the 25 km to La Bufa ticked away. Stephanie and I were in front and she was driving. I was just enjoying the scenery and holding the 2m radio mic to relay oncoming traffic information back to Doron, who was following a few hundred yards behind. Stephanie is an excellent driver and was able to avoid the oncoming traffic easily. The was until a newer model Chevrolet extended cab came around a blind corner.

The Chevrolet truck drove past us at over 40 miles per hour on the narrow dirt road, the rear of the truck sliding as the driver made the slight correction necessary to miss hitting our Tacoma. Stephanie did a great job cautiously veering the truck towards the hillside providing "Mario" a little more room to pass. My voice cracked with nervousness as I yelled into the microphone for Doron to watch out for the speeding truck. The only response from our companions was "He hit us!, were hit".

The intensity of our friends reply brought us to action, Stephanie sliding the truck around on the loose gravel, and traveling back up the roads to our friends. It amazing how many thoughts can fill a persons mind in the matter of a few seconds. The unknown letting ones imagination ponder the scene ahead.The first thing i noticed was the 100'+ skid marks in the road, where the truck slid nearly sideways along the canyon edge. To my relief, the front of the Land Cruiser was fine and Doron was out of the vehicle, inspecting the rear quarter panel. The driver of the truck was also in the road, tugging desperately at his front bumper, shoved solid against his driver front tire.

I inspected the TLC up close and was amazed at the lack of damage. The rear wheel had taken the brunt of the impact, ripping the plastic center cover off. Tire rubber was smeared on the rim, and a small scratch was evident on the TJM rear bumper. The bumper took a heavy impact and was moved back slightly on its mounts, the heavy gauge side panel bent in less than a 1/4".

The Chevrolet however, faired much worse with a bend bumper and damaged sheet metal. Surprisingly though, the incident was minor and the driver showed obvious concern and remorse for his excessive speed. He asked if he could leave, which I responded with "si, pero guiar mas cuidado". We felt very fortunate that the accident was minor and no one was hurt. We continued down the track, though much slower and with some trepidation of what the next turn may hold.

We drove for several kilometers along the top of the canyon, surrounded by pine trees and cool temperatures before we started to drop in elevation. As soon as the road descended into the canyon, the switchbacks began, and we worked our way, back and forth along the canyon walls to the river below. La Bufa was our next destination...