Swiftly after our food fill-up in Nadadores – Coahuila, we were on our way. 15 minutes through the mountains on Mexico’s highway 30 and Cuatrociénegas will come up to you suddenly without you even noticing.
cuatrociénegas is part of the Mexican Government “Pueblo Magico” (Magical Town) initiative. According to the Mexican Government tourism department, a Magical town is a site with symbols and legends, populated with history that in many cases have been the scene of transcendent events for our country, are places that show national identity in each of its corners, with a magic that emanates from its attractions; Visiting them is an opportunity to discover the charm of Mexico.
There’s a lot to see in Cuatrociénegas we began with the sand dunes, then moved onto the Poza Azul and finished in Cuatrociénegas downtown.
Millions of years ago, the movement of the terrestrial plates caused the bottom of the sea to rise to the height of the mountains so abruptly, that its rocks and sediments were exposed after the evaporation of its waters, leaving only springs of little depth, pools and white sands that cover the mountains and hills in magical places like Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila. The extensive Plaster Dunes of this Magic Town flow with the wind and share the landscape with blue pools, marble walls, and rivers of transparent water, which added to its warm climate of 22 degrees on average, which in summer reach 40, It gives its visitors the feeling of being on another planet. In the middle of the imposing Sierra Madre Oriental, with the Ovejas, Madera, La Fragua, San Marcos, Los Pinos and La Purísima mountain ranges around it, Cuatro Ciénegas is a valley of low, arid and hot plains, a place that changes to the rhythm of the sun, dyeing its sands and its natural sculptures of red, pink or orange as the day progresses and the temperature drops: a sublime spectacle. For millennia, this place was occupied by nomadic groups that survived to collect the fruits of the desert in salty soils, grasslands and scrublands, which included mesquite, sotol, yucca, ocotillo, governor and cactus varieties. These ancient settlers left evidence of their passage through the region in the petrogravines of some stones, artifacts for hunting and burials of former collector hunters. Declared a Protected Natural Area in 1994, Cuatro Ciénegas occupies about 85,000 hectares of biodiversity that has remained almost unchanged for the past 11,000 years. Visiting it is undoubtedly an opportunity to know something like no other in the world: thanks to the springs, pools and lagoons that remain in its territory, it is the perfect home for numerous endemic species of flora and fauna, such as the golden lizard, the turtle White shell and the hinge water turtle, in addition to 18 unique plant species, 4 reptiles, 11 fish, 14 mollusks, 8 crustaceans and various insects, which has earned him the title of "the Mexican Galapagos.
Nature, Food and shopping dominated the trip. Highly recommended, Cuatrociénegas is a must- in person.
Click Here for the complete official list of Mexico's Pueblo Magicos.