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The Copper Canyon, or Barrancas del Cobre in spanish, is a fraction of the Sierra Tarahumara mountainous system located in northern Mexico; belonging to the Sierra Madre Occidental, Copper Canyon has a total area over the 25,000 miles and its name comes from the coppery tone of its walls when the sun shines over them. This canyon system is a network of natural ravines whose depths exceed four times those of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado located in Arizona, surpassing by over 1000 feet in depth on the deepest zones, within the most profound gullies that make up the Copper Canyon are located Urique with 6,165 ft in depth, Sinforosa (6,003 ft deep), Batopilas (5,905 ft deep), Candameña (5,741 ft deep), Río Mayo (5,511 ft deep), Huápoca (5,314 ft deep), Chinipas and Septentrion (both 5,249 ft m deep) and Onteros (4,986 ft deep).

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION

The copper canyon is located in the southwest area of the large state of Chihuahua, extending over the municipalities of Batopilas and Urique, within the geographical position 27 '30' of latitude N and 107 '20' of western longitude of the meridian of Greenwich, at 1,640 feet above sea level. This geographical position, adjacent to the states of Sonora and Sinaloa, provides a subtropical climate with heavy rains in the months of June to July; and an average temperature of 25º C. The access routes that promote tourist activity in the region are found in the Creel road, part of the city of Chihuahua del Norte and the South and El Fuerte road, a town located 196 km from the Copper Canyon, heading south; these are the best known and most used by locals and foreigners within the tourist attractions that this geographical area encloses.

FLORA AND FAUNA

The Copper Canyon possess a wide biodiversity, holding different types of flora and fauna depending on the climatic conditions propitiated by the depth of the canyon; due to its prodigious depressions and reliefs, and the uniqueness of its biodiversity, the ecosystem of the Copper Canyon stands out worldwide. In the highest areas of the ravine its observed pine, oak, poplar, alder and arbutus abundant forests, likewise there are cacti in the drier areas of the ravine, this type of vegetation grows at 6,500 ft. above the sea level and its characterized by its resistance to heavy annual snowfall. Around 1,300 ft. above sea level there is a vegetation belonging to semitropical climates of high humidity; within this descending area there are fruits such as mangoes, oranges and fig trees, and vegetation such as ceibas, reeds, vines, zálates and zapotes. In terms of faunal populations, black bear, white-tailed deer, wild boar, wolf, wildcat and raccoon have been observed. Among the birds that inhabit the region, the golden eagle and the peregrine falcon have been witnessed as the striking ones; behind the semitropical climate zones there have been casual populations of green macaws with a constant presence of woodpeckers, wild turkeys and quails.

GEOGRAPHICAL ATTRACTIONS

Piedra Volada Waterfall: With 1,486 ft. of height it is positioned as the highest waterfall in Mexico, with a depth of 5,741 ft., it’s within enclosed attractions in the National Park of the Copper Canyon.

Basaseachi Cascade: At 807 ft. above the ground, Basaseachi is the second highest waterfall in Mexico, the fifth in the Americas and the twenty-first in the world; it has a depth exceeding 5,250 ft. and is another natural geographic attraction enclosed in the Copper Canyon National Park.

Summits of Sinforosa (Barrancas de Sinforosa in Spanish): It locates the viewpoint of Huérachi with 6,003 ft. of depth, in the bottom of this impressing fall runs the Green River, this geographic route is mentioned within the records of Carl Lumholtz, in his book The Unknown Mexico (“El México Desconocido”).

Divisadero Barrancas: The most important position of the railroad route of the Chihuahua-Pacífico train (El Chepe), located at kilometer 622 of the route, is the junction point of the Urique and Tararecua municipalities; is the geographical area with the greatest tourist and attractive impact of the Copper Canyon national park, encloses attractions such as zip lines, hanging bridges, a cable car, rappel, rock climbing, zip rider, among many others.

Batopilas River: Its name comes from the Tarahumara word for "Encased River o Río Encajonado" and runs at the bottom of the Copper Canyon; was a point of great economic importance in 1208 due to its high impact on silver mining.

Urique River: Its name means "Place of Ravines" and its middle part runs inside the copper gullies, it has a length of 80 km and a depth of 4,921 m; its main source flows into the Pacific Ocean and had a high impact in gold mining in the years from 1871 to 1907.

Conchos River: One of the main rivers of the state of Chihuahua, its slope of greater impact flows into the Rio Grande, this is within the main points of the orographic-pluvial system of the state and is influenced due to the mountainous geographic structures of the Copper Canyon, the Sinforosa, Urique and Batopilas.

CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS

Train Chihuahua-Pacífico (Chepe): This railway line has a route of 653 km that crosses the impressive Copper Canyon, within the route varied altitudes are reached depending on the geographic points of the area; these fluctuate from 328 to 4,593 ft. above sea level, which leads to a remarkable climatic biodiversity in terms of species of flora and fauna. This biological differentiation is known as microclimates and are characteristic attractions of the Chepe tour throughout the States of Chihuahua and Sinaloa. This railway attraction is divided into two passenger routes, Chepe Express with a distance of 350 km, focused on the tourist points of El Fuerte, Divisadero, Barrancas and Creel; and Chepe Regional, with a route of 653 km focused entirely on the inside of the copper ravines, within this trip there are 86 tunnels that cross the mountains that make up the mountainous system of the Sierra Tarahumara and 37 bridges over the depth of the canyons, focused on the Barrancas Viewpoint bridge as the most impressive landscape of the route.

Creel: This magical town is located in the Creel station of the El Chepe railroad, the final point of what used to be the initial route of the passenger train. This is a tourist zone that preserves the Rarámuri house of the Tarahumara ethnic group; within its extension is the Tarahumara Culture Museum, whose walls share the history and culture of the indigenous customs of the region. Creel is a tourist point of great impact within the attractions of the Copper Canyon, with architectural structures such as the Temple and Monument Cristo Rey and the House of Crafts Museum, which celebrates the Tarahumara culture and its impact within the area geographic location of the Copper Canyon.