Visitors to the Copper Canyon region who can fit some extra time in their schedule should make the side trip to Batopilas from Creel a very high priority. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, Batopilas is very remote. It takes most of a day to travel to Batopilas from Creel and most of another day for the return trip, plus at least one day in Batopilas for sight-seeing. I traveled to Batopilas as part of a 10 day trip to the Copper Canyon region that I arranged with a customized itinerary through Copper Canyon Adventures in El Fuerte. I had read about the scheduled bus service from Creel, but I decided to reserve a private driver for convenience even though it was much, much more expensive than taking the bus. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made. It was well worth the expense, but it was $300 not including the hotel. Because Batopilas is so remote, the driver has to stay in Batopilas while you're there. My driver spoke excellent English. He was friendly, entertaining, and intimately familar with the Creel and Batopilas areas. He makes the drive frequently during the high tourist season. He drove an older, but very well maintained, 4WD pickup customized for off-road driving. (I don't know how to contact him directly.)

First, the drive on the paved Gran Vision highway from Creel to the turnoff for Batopilas was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the drive on Utah state highway 12 from Bryce Canyon NP through Escalante-Grand Staircase NM to Capitol Reef NP. The drive on the gravel road to Batopilas was just spectacular. Steep drop-offs, and views across and down into the canyons. Comparable to some of the best 4WD roads in the Moab or Ouray areas, but with different scenery. Visitors pass the historic La Bufa gold mine and parallel the old El Camino Real Spanish trail across the canyon. The Raramuri ranchitos hanging precariously on the cliff-side wherever there's a small patch of land to plant corn were astounding. At the end of the drive we arrived in the small mining town of Batopilas. We stayed at the Casa Real de las Minas, a good choice (reviewed separately).

My driver seemed to know everyone in town. Across from the hotel is an "old-timey" general store. Local Raramuri, wearing their traditional clothing (both men and women), shopped at the store with their families along with the other local residents. The two local bars were loud with music and singing on Friday night.

The main nearby attraction is the "lost" cathedral of Satevo. It's a fairly long, hot walk from Batopilas but on mostly level ground. But if you have a driver and vehicle like I did, it's only a short drive from Batopilas. The cathedral's exterior has recently been restuccoed after many years of a more worn appearance. (Signs explain the debate about whether to preserve the cathedral in a state of "arrested decay" or to restore it.) The cathedral is fascinating, not to mention the mystery of why it was built in such a remote place.

Back in Batopilas, stop by the new state museum in the Residencia. The curator and his chihuahua are very friendly. The curator has an English script he can use to describe the historic and mining artifacts. There are several historic buildings in town, but as is typical for Mexican architecture, the most attractive parts of the buildings face the interior patio rather than the streets, and most aren't open to the public. The Alexander Shepard silver mill ruins are intersting from across the river, but when I visited they weren't really worth seeing from the inside.

The owner of the Hotel Mary was building some tourist rooms in the compound, but the ruined buildings had no description and most of the ruins were being used as livestock pens or for trash. Maybe he'll clean up the grounds before he opens the little lodge. (The museum has a model of the compound with a description of the buildings but there's nothing at the ruins themselves.) Watch for the small local shop where Luis Kollyes sells reasonably priced prints and postcards from paintings he's made. Well worth a stop.

One of the best local restaurants is Casa de Maria, where delicious truly traditional Mexican meals are prepared in a private kitchen and served at a couple of tables on the attached covered veranda. It's like eating in a private home. (Actually, Dona Maria has passed away. Her daughter (I think) prepares the food now, but I don't remember her name. The restaurant is on the old village square past the Hotel Real de las Minas, but it has no sign identifying it. In the evenings we sat on benches by the general store, talked (well, I tried to; my Spanish isn't the greatest), and watched the people and dogs wander the streets.

On the return drive to Creel we stopped to give local Raramuri kids and their parents a ride to the school at the rim of the canyon in Quirare. They would be standing by the road with a sheer cliff on one side and a steep dropoff to the river on the other. It was a mystery where they came from, and amazing to think they used to hike all the way out of the canyon. Once we had climbed back out of the canyon, we stopped at the Cusurare waterfall (not much water flow in the dry season, but nice), and the very interesting Raramuri-built Loyola Museum housing the early 18th century paintings of the life of the Virgin Mary by Miguel Correa. (There's a good museum of Raramuri life in Creel.)

(The drive to Urique from Cerocahui is a shorter alternative to Batopilas. The round trip drive can be made in less than a day. It's a beautiful drive, but it's not as spectacular as the drive to Batopilas. I did that, too.)