Cerocahui

Owned by the Balderramas, who own most of the hotels and organize most of the tours in the Copper Canyon, the Misión adds a whole new dimension to your canyon experience. As with the other Balderrama properties, a stay here is very easy to set up since one phone call to the head office (800-896-8196 from the U.S.) completes all the needed arrangements including hotel, train, and transfer to the hotel. Spending the night here, either before, or after going to the Posada Mirador, works in well with the above itinerary. About four hours after the train leaves El Fuerte, it stops in Bahuichivo. Balderrama Tours arranges the transfer to the hotel, which is located about an hour from the train station along a very bumpy road to Cerocahui, a hamlet in a high, fertile river valley of orchards surrounded by the Sierra Madre mountains. The hotel, named for the old Jesuit mission, exudes charm. The guestrooms are cozy with beamed ceilings, carved wooden furniture, terracotta floors, and brightly colored hand-woven fabrics. You can take guided horseback rides, trek to the lovely Huicochi waterfall (five hours round trip), explore the many nearby trails, take a bus to the old mining town of Urique where there is a lookout with sweeping canyon views, and visit the Jesuit mission across from the hotel. The mission was founded in 1694 by Juan María de Salvatierra, a Jesuit priest from Italy who was the first European to reach the floor of the canyon, and who later founded the first mission in Baja California in Loreto.