El Chepe, Train to the Canyon

El Chepe is the name of the train that we took from Los Mochis up through the river canyon of the Sierra Tarahumara mountains. Over the course of 9 hours (half the length of the line), we traveled about 300 kilometers (185 miles) and gained over 7,000 feet, passing through lush farmland in the valley and beautiful decidious and connifer forest in the mountains. No desert and sagebrush here!

We traveled through numerous tunnels and over trestles on our route. The train never went very fast – the most I estimated it at was about 27 mph. The information we read told us that it took construction workers about 90 years to dig, build, and blast the route. A travel site has a brief history of the project.

If you want to book your own passage, prices from Los Mochis to Barrancas are about 600 pesos ($60. US), one way on the luxury train.