Durango outdoors: Sierra Madre lookouts, the Bolsón de Mapimí and two biosphere reserves

Durango is Mexico's fourth-largest state, at 123,181 square kilometers, and more than half of it is mountainous, rising above 2,500 meters, according to the state tourism office. Its outdoors run from the canyons of the Sierra Madre Occidental, which the office says reach 1,400 meters deep, to the desert basin of the Bolsón de Mapimí. Two federal biosphere reserves protect parts of the state. This guide covers the routes the state promotes, what the protected areas are, and what official travel advice says about the area.

Mexiquillo and the Espinazo del Diablo

One mountain drive the state tourism office promotes starts at Mexiquillo, 148 km from the capital on Federal Highway 40, the free road between Durango and Mazatlán. From there it runs to the Espinazo del Diablo, or Devil's Backbone. The tourism office's page, dated April 2017, gives the distance as both 20 km and 23.8 km, and puts the average time at four hours. It describes two lookouts: Buenos Aires, 11 km from Mexiquillo, and the Espinazo itself, named for an old cart pass only 4 to 5 meters wide on one of the country's highest and most dangerous slopes.

The office recommends the drive in the low vacation season or in summer, when clear weather and light traffic let you take in the views. It says the vehicle must be in excellent condition, and that the road has spaces at the side where you can park to take photographs.

The highway continues to Mazatlán in Sinaloa. The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), in its Mexico travel advice last updated October 20, 2026, and still current on October 29, advises against all but essential travel to the state of Sinaloa, except "the cities of Los Mochis and Mazatlán," "road 32 that runs between El Fuerte and Los Mochis," "the 15D federal toll road that runs the length of the state" and "the Copper Canyon rail route to and from Los Mochis, El Fuerte and the towns immediately on this route." Its list of exceptions does not name Federal Highway 40. The FCDO lists no area in Durango where it advises against all but essential travel, but it says: "Drug-related violence affects the northern states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, Sinaloa and Durango." It adds: "Take extreme care outside tourist areas in all these states."

The Bolsón de Mapimí and the Zona del Silencio

The Mapimí Biosphere Reserve, managed by CONANP, Mexico's protected-areas agency, covers 342,387.99 hectares in Durango, Chihuahua and Coahuila, in the municipalities of Tlahualillo, Mapimí, Jiménez and Sierra Mojada. It belongs to UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere program, and its endemic species is the Bolsón tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus). CONANP's fact sheet also lists the golden eagle, mule deer, puma and Mexican pronghorn among its animals, and peyote and several cacti among its plants.

The area known as the Zona del Silencio lies within the Bolsón. On a page dated April 2017, Durango's tourism office suggests a November trip to watch the Leonid meteor shower far from electric light, and warns that night temperatures fall to 0°C (32°F) and below. It says visitors can camp or sleep in rooms at the ejido La Flor, where the ejidatarias cook meals and an ejido museum explains the region's plants and animals, and it tells walkers to keep to the permitted trails. Its suggested route from Monterrey runs via Saltillo and Torreón toward Jiménez, Chihuahua, and takes about six hours.

That route starts in Nuevo León and crosses Coahuila, two more of the northern states the FCDO lists as affected by drug-related violence, and it heads toward Jiménez, in Chihuahua, where part of the Mapimí reserve lies. The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the state of Chihuahua, except "the city of Chihuahua," "the border crossing in Ciudad Juárez (accessed by federal toll road 45)," "federal toll road 45D connecting the cities of Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez," "the Copper Canyon rail route to and from Chihuahua and towns immediately on this route including Creel," "the road from Creel via San Juanito to San Pedro" and "state highway 16 from San Pedro to Chihuahua." Jiménez is not named among those exceptions.

Mapimí, the Ojuela mine and its bridge

The town of Mapimí, which the state lists as a Pueblo Mágico, grew up around the Ojuela mine. The architectural ensemble of the town and the mine of Ojuela are both components of the UNESCO-listed Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. According to the state tourism office's page on Mapimí, dated March 2017, the mine has 450 km of tunnels and is toured with a specialist guide who carries an oil lamp; Ojuela, now a ghost town, once had 3,000 residents; and the Puente de Ojuela suspension bridge is 318 meters long and 2 meters wide, over a drop of 110 meters. A 330-meter zip line runs beside it, more than 100 meters above the ravine.

La Michilía Biosphere Reserve

La Michilía Biosphere Reserve covers 35,000 hectares in the Durango municipalities of Súchil and Mezquital. It was decreed in 1979, is managed by CONANP and is also part of the Man and the Biosphere program. CONANP lists black bear, puma, coyote, wild turkey, golden eagle and the Mexican gray wolf among its fauna. Its fact sheet does not cover visitor access.

Across Mexico, CONANP counts 232 federal protected areas covering 98,000,719 hectares, of which 48 are biosphere reserves.

What official advice says about remote travel

• The U.S. State Department's Mexico advisory, issued May 29, 2026, and still current on October 29, 2026, according to its data feed, says: "Emergency services are limited or unavailable in remote or rural areas." Its travel information says to dial 911 for emergency services.
• The advisory says U.S. government employees "May not travel between cities after dark" and "Should avoid traveling alone, especially in remote areas," and that "U.S. citizens should follow the same restrictions as U.S. government employees while traveling."
• On checkpoints, it says: "If you encounter a road checkpoint, you should comply. Fleeing or ignoring instructions can lead to you being hurt or killed."
• The FCDO says: "In remote areas, you may come across unofficial roadblocks, including on main roads." It also advises: "Stay away from isolated roads and use toll roads (‘cuotas’) whenever possible."