30 top geotourism sites in Mexico (Geo-Mexico special)

Mexico has literally thousands of geotourism sites (locations where the primary recreational attraction is some phenomenon of geographic importance, such as a coral reef, mangrove swamp, volcano, mountain peak, cave or canyon. Many of Mexico’s geotourism sites are geomorphosites, where the primary attraction is one or more ”landforms that have acquired a scientific, cultural/historical, aesthetic and/or social/economic value due to human perception or exploitation.” (Panniza, 2001)

Here is a partial index (by state) to the geotourism sites described on Geo-mexico.com to date:

Baja California Sur

• Mexico’s Cabo Pulmo Marine Park
• The mystery of the Alarcon Rise

Chiapas

• The eruption of El Chichón volcano in 1982

Chihuahua

• Copper Canyon in Chihuahua
• The world’s largest crystals grow in caves in Chihuahua, Mexico

Colima

• Recent eruptions of Colima Volcano, el Volcán de Colima

Hidalgo

• The Basalt Prisms of San Miguel Regla, Hidalgo
• Peñas Cargadas, Mineral del Monte, Hidalgo

Jalisco

• The Primavera Forest, Guadalajara, Jalisco
• The volcanic spine of Tequila Volcano, Jalisco
• The Piedras Bola (Stone Balls) of the Sierra de Ameca, Jalisco

México (State of)

• The Nevado de Toluca loses National Park status

Michoacán

• Paricutín Volcano
• Mud volanoes of Los Negritos, Michoacán
• The geysers of Ixtlán de los Hervores
• The annual migration of Monarch butterflies

Morelos

• Popocatepetl Volcano

Nayarit

• The crater lake of Santa María del Oro
• Mexcaltitán, a magical island town in Nayarit

Nuevo León

• García Caves (Grutas de García) in Nuevo León

Oaxaca

• Cueva Cheve, one of the world’s deepest cave systems

Puebla

• Images of continued eruption of Popocatepetl Volcano
• The world’s smallest volcano in Puebla
• Piedras Encimadas

Querétaro

• The Peña de Bernal, a monolith in Querétaro

Quintana Roo

• World’s longest underground river flows deep beneath the Yucatán Peninsula

San Luis Potosí

• El Sótano de las Golondrinas (Cave of the Swallows)

Sonora

• The landforms of the El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve

Tamaulipas

• Deepest water-filled sinkhole in the world: El Zacatón, Tamaulipas

Veracruz

• Enchanted Lake in Veracruz
• An early ascent of Mexico’s highest mountain, El Pico de Orizaba

Reference:

• Panizza M. (2001) Geomorphosites : concepts, methods and example of geomorphological survey. Chinese Science Bulletin, 46: 4-6