
Hidalgo
La Ruta de la Montana
The state of Hidalgo is a more conservative, traditional region of Mexico. Its capital and largest city, Pachuca, is growing rapidly but it still is not the diverse, cosmopolitan urban center that you might expect from a large (over 1 million people) city, especially when compared to larger capital cities like Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Queretaro. Don’t let that deter you from visiting, however, as Pachuca makes for an excellent jumping off point to La Ruta de la Montana, and probably your last best chance for a nicer hotel and finer dining.
La Ruta de la Montana is a scenic highway (Hwy 105) that winds its way through the mountains separating the wetter (and windier) Pachuca from the hotter and dryer towns to the northeast. The route is dotted with picturesque villages frozen in time, most of which are part of Mexico’s historical and cultural recognition program called “Pueblo Magicos” or magical towns. Although they are not separated by many miles and you could easily drive from Pachuca to Santa Maria Amajac, the most distant pueblo, there is enough to see and do in each town to justify at least an overnight stay. If you are relying on Mexico’s extensive bus network to get around, you’ll definitely welcome the chance to avoid a full day in public transport as drivers are highly incentivized (read: paid) to pack their vehicles as fully as humanly possible.
Depending on the towns you would like to visit, highlights include:
- Ex-haciendas converted into hotels and tourist parks
- Naturally formed basaltic prisms
- Latin America’s first national park
- Rock climbing
- Hiking
- Former Cornish-English colonial town
- Old silver mines
- Mexican pastes (Cornish dish brought to Mexico by mine workers then “Mexicanized”)
- World Soccer Hall of Fame in the birthplace of “football” in the new world
- Urban shopping, museums, and sidewalk cafes
Las Haciendas Pulqueras
If you prefer to explore with your stomach instead of roughing it in small towns and smaller buses (or if you want to add it on to La Ruta de la Montana), then a visit to one of Hidalgo’s Haciendas Pulqueras might be up your alley. Pulque is a white moonshine made with water fermented in the maguey plant. It is THE adult beverage of Hidalgo but it is rarely found in public watering holes as it’s best consumed fresh and does not hold up well to canning and bottling. Short of finding a rural denizen to invite to his humble abode for a taste of this unique beverage, you’re only chance of tasting it will be on an organized tour to one the Haciendas Pulqueras that are starting to pop up just outside the city in recognition of the growing popularity of the beverage and its cultural significance to the region.
Good to know:
- Pastes are baked hand held pies filled with various savory or sweet options.
- Pulque is sour tasting but if that is not to your liking, you can ask for it “cured” with a fruit soda but be careful, it’s potent and when “cured” it can go down a little too easily.
- At the time of writing, the local silver mines were flooded and inaccessible.
- Most of the tourist shops will sell silver but it is not from the area’s mines as they ran dry a long time ago.
- Haciendas are the Mexican equivalent of a plantation.