Los Marmoles National Park is a mountainous, forest park in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico with canyons, rivers, and sheer cliffs. It is a popular destination for active outdoor sports including mountain biking, rock climbing, and rappelling.

Ravine in Los Marmoles National Park, Hidalgo

Understand

The park is very large, covering an area of 23,150 hectares. It lies in the Sierra Madre mountains between two ranges known as the Sierra Gorda and the Sierra de Pachuca.

History

Vast tracts of land in Hidalgo were deforested during the 19th century in order to provide wood for the metal processing industries. Mines and metal processing facilities operated in areas around Los Marmoles, which led to areas needing protection from over-industrialization by the turn of the 20th century. Parque Nacional Los Marmoles was created as part of the national parks system in 1936 by a presidential decree issued by President Lazaro Cardenas.

Landscape

Piedra Iman

Mountain landscapes with relatively low peaks, forested with pine and juniper is the dominant landscape you'll see in the park. The park has rocky crags, sheer cliffs, deep caves, and is criss-crossed with streams and rivers. Notable features includeː

• Cerro Cangandho is the park's highest mountain with its peak at 2,820 meters elevation. A popular hiking destination is La Piedra Iman, which is a large blue-colored stone that has a powerful magnetic force that can pull coins and jewelry as you approach.
• Barranca de San Vicente is a deep canyon with a river running down to the Moctezuma River.

Flora and fauna

A wide range of plants and animals live in the park, which was created to protect stands of old growth native forest. Plants include a variety of pine trees as well as stands of cypress and juniper. 18 species of oak are found in the forest. Hardy plants do well in the park and mature tepozán trees are very common, as are several types of cactus that can also resist periods of drought. Mammals include armadillos, white-tail deer, coati, squirrels, rabbits, opossum, raccoons, and various cats as the park's apex predators. Cats living in Los Marmoles include an occasional jaguar and more frequently, pumas, ocelots, jaguarundi, and bobcats. 11 species of bat live in the caves of Los Marmoles, including vampire bats. Reptiles include chameleons, spiny lizards and several species of snakes.

Climate

Temperatures in the park are generally comfortable with warm to temperate conditions most of the year. Summer is the wettest period of the year with average rainfall between 450 and 1500 mm.

Get in

The park is about a 3-hour drive by car from Mexico City, or take a bus to Zimapán then take a taxi to the park.

There are also public-transportation Kombis that run back and forth between Zimapán and various other towns inside the park. The Kombis make continual stops and stops can be requested at any point on the ride, and Kombis can be hailed from any point on their route as well, as long as the stop has sufficient space for the Kombi to stop. Kombis between Zimapán and Jacala, a trip which covers the entire extent park access on MEX 85, is M$55 (2023), and the price decreases if a closer stop is requested. This Kombi runs once every two hours.

From Mexico City, Ovnibus buses leave Terminal del Norte every 2 hours for Zimapan. It's a 4-1/2 hour ride and will cost M$400-600 (Feb 2023) depending on the time of day.

The park lies 35 minutes from the town of Zimapán. From Zimapan, head northeast on Highway MEX 85 (Carretera Nacional Mexico-Laredo). The park entrance is at Km 145.

Fees and permits

Admission to the park is free.

Get around

Hiking is your friend. Wear comfortable boots.

See

Encarnacion

• La Encarnacion is a ghost town lying entirely within the park boundaries. During the Porfirio era of the 19th century, it was an active mining town with a foundry that was extracting and processing iron to be used for building the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Locals describe the old town as being an "English style" town. They certainly do have an active imaginationǃ One small store operates in the town and there is a bathroom there.

Eat

Restaurants are in the nearby town of Zimapán.

Drink

Bring plenty of bottled water.

Sleep

Lodging

Hotels are in the nearby town of Zimapán.

Go next

• Mineral del Monte
• Huasca de Ocampo
• Actopan