Mexican secrets: Huasteca Potosina

Have you heard of Huasteca Potosina? Before coming to mainland Mexico we haven’t either.

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Huasteca Potosina is an area in the state of San Luis Potosí known for its numerous waterfalls, rivers and natural wonders. You won’t meet many international travellers here and Mexicans come mainly for holidays. It was way off our route but definitely worth it.

Let us tell you about the gems you shouldn’t miss!

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Tamasopo

Here we visited Cascadas de Tamasopo (entry 40 pesos, to borrow obligatory life jacket 15 pesos/1hr or 30pesos/3hrs). It’s a beautiful place with many waterfalls, where you can jump, enjoy the water or simply enjoy the scenery. There are few restaurants and souvenir shops on site.

The other important place to visit is Puente de Dios. A small but deep (17m) pool where few waterfalls enter is really an experience. You get there via 300 steps and entry fee is 30 pesos plus you can rent a life jacket in the village or down there (that is again obligatory, there are no life guards on site). You get to the main pool by swimming through caves full of bats – thankfully they stick to the roof most of the time. There are ropes over the whole water route to help you overcome the current, as it’s quite strong in places. It’s a beautiful experience and the water is surprisingly warm even when it’s cloudy.

We also visited Cascaditas y El Paradíso as we camped there one night. The waterfalls are much smaller but we had the privilege to have them all to ourselves and it was incredible. Late night dip and the next day Tom enjoyed jumping into the water from hanging rope. Such fun!

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If you are cycling in Huasteca Potosina we can recommend taking the back road from Tamasopo through the sugar cane fields, rather than climbing up back to the highway. The road took us through small villages and joined Hwy 70 after Rascón. Only for a little while though. The next place to definitely visit is

Cascada de Tamul

We recommend you to leave highway in Santa Anita, because if you do it earlier, part of the road to the waterfall is dirt. The road we took is nothing but beautiful. Again through the fields with sugar cane, small roads, hardly any traffic. We arrived to Tanchachín from where you can access the waterfall by boat. The next morning we took the trip with a friendly local (it cost us 600 pesos). To do it early in the morning is HIGHLY recommended until all the tours from the cities nearby arrive. We were alone with the waterfall after paddling against the flow for about an hour. Tamul waterfall is 105m high and it’s simply beautiful. We had enough time to take photos until the first other boat arrived. On the way back we met many more. If you want, you can swim in the river or better let it carry you with the flow.

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After this amazing experience we took the quiet road to Aquismón and camped at the bike/tyre shop there where the friendly owner hosts cyclists frequently. According to his advice we took the backroad through banana plantations and we did well as the main road was too busy.

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El Jardín surrealísta de Edward James, Xilitla

After climbing 600m hill to Xilitla in midday heat, we went to explore the gardens the next day. Amazing work of British poet E. James who wanted to create a place from his fantasies. It was Saturday unfortunately, so little bit more people than we had wished but still very inspiring place.

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And the last tip is for the place you shouldn’t go to

Rio Verde is like a pre-gate to Huasteca. There’s a place called Laguna Media Luna but if you think the people who work in travel business should be polite and helpful, please don’t go there. There was a bunch of really young staff at the entrance when we arrived. We politely ask if it’s ok to push our loaded bikes inside instead of leaving them in the parking lot, they just declined and didn’t try to find a solution at all. Just a simple thing like leaving the bikes at their office. No, they just enjoyed the situation. When reading the reviews, we are only ones of many unhappy about the staff behaviour there. There’s many places to enjoy in Huasteca Potosina, you can choose who to support with your money :).