Tolantongo caves

Mexico It has wonderful landscapes but it usually happens that we always stay with the most popular ones and leave out those that are not sufficiently promoted. For example, if you like caves, those caves with magical airs that seem like entrances to the underworld, here in Mexico you can know the Caves of Tolantongo.

Do you know them? If the name does not even sound familiar to you, do not stop reading this article because they can become your next travel destination.

Las Grutas and other tourist destinations

First of all, it must be said that They are in the Mezquital Valley, within the Mexican state of Hidalgo whose capital is Pachuca. Hidalgo is in the east of the country and some of its neighbors are Veracruz and Puebla. The valley is made up of three valleys where semi arid vegetation predominates and there are few streams.

Hidalgo has many tourist pearls and the government has drawn up a tourist map divided into thematic "corridors." So, you can follow the Mountain Runner which focuses on ecotourism and the different ecosystems of the area with national parks, camping areas and archaeological sites, and the Spa corridor with spas, natural ponds, hot springs and even water parks.

There is also the Tulancingo Corridor and the Four Elements with the focus on sports, and the Haciendas corridor with old farms built from the XNUMXth to the XNUMXth century. The Sierra and Huasteca Corridor that runs through the mountain range and the Toltec corridor whose heart is the archaeological zone of Tula.

Having said that, the caves are only an hour and a half away from the state capital and if you are in the DF to 198 kilometers. Either distance is short. Name, Tonaltonko, comes from the Nahuatl language and means home where you feel warmth. The beauty of this site was discovered 43 years ago, it was publicized by a magazine, and from then on its development began.

Tolantongo is a box-type barrel, that is, a short and narrow barrel, more than a canyon river, which has steep walls on three of its sides and which can only be accessed from the mouth of the fault. The ideal is to get to the city of Ixmiquilpan and from there travel the scarce 17 kilometers to the valley, the ecological zone and its caves. It is a landscape with rare rock formations, natural pools carved out of them, cacti, and semi-tropical vegetation. It is so beautiful that many novels are filmed here.

A river called Tolantongo also passes through the bed of the canyon. Its waters are warm and colored by mineral salts and they come from a complex network of channels within the mountain. It is this route precisely the one that manages to bring them to 20ºC. Marvelous! And naturally, there are also the caves. There are two types of caves, a very large one and a smaller one.

The largest cave is from which the river flows and has a tunnel, on the same canyon wall, narrow and about 15 meters long. It is actually a karst cave and more than ten years ago it remained closed for a time because this type of terrain is susceptible to landslides. In here there are stalactites and stalagmites and the temperature is warmer than in the other. Right out of it there are ponds and the river is low and calm so one can enjoy swims.

It is possible to move through the tunnel and it is almost like taking a shower because when you are there you are like vaporized with warm water coming from both the walls and the ceiling. Amazing. In one sector, the floor level even drops and as it is flooded you can even swim. More or less similar, but smaller, is the second cave. In both it is possible to hear the echo of the waterfalls that the mountain has inside, something without equal.

And the best thing is that you can rappelling into the two huge domes in the caves same. It is not the sea for sure, because of the humidity of the rocks, but it is possible. The truth is that if to the supreme beauty of the caves you add the more general landscape, the ponds or wading pools, As they say here, that there are along the canyon, the trees that shade the banks and the vegetation you can spend a beautiful day.

You can even camp and enjoy more than one day if you have fallen short.

Visit the Tolantango Grottoes

You can arrive by public transport from Mexico City, also from Querétaro, from Tepotzotlan or from the Mexico airport. You can also rent a car and get there from these same places. The only thing you have to watch out for is the Tolantongo curves, which are somewhat dangerous. From the official website of the caves you have these more detailed options and even the possibility of download maps with routes and routes.

Once in Ixmiquilpan, the closest city, you can take a direct minibus to the caves that are on the north side of the city. They leave from the parking lot that is next to the Church of San Antonio. From Monday to Thursday they depart at 11 am, 1:30, 3:30 and 6:00 pm and from Friday to Sunday between 10 am and 6 pm one every hour. In the opposite direction, you take the mini bus next to the reception of the hotel «La Gruta» and the service starts at 7:30 am and until 5:30 pm (Monday through Thursday 7:30 am and 11 am, 1 and 5:30 pm; and Friday to Sunday 7:30 and 11:30 am and 1:30, 3:30 and 5:30 pm).

If your idea is to stay more than one day you can stay in one of the hotels, in general quite simple: room, bathroom and shower, nothing more. No WiFi, food or television. Keep that in mind. Also, they only accept cash payments and the price does not include the entrance to the caves that make up the Grutas Tolantongo Spa. Check in from 8 am and check out at 12 the next day. The spa ticket is valid from 7 am to 8 pm, so if you rent a room you must cover the entrance ticket on day 1 and day 2 of your stay.

You have hotel options but they all make up the complex: Hidden Paradise Hotel, with 87 rooms, La Gruta Hotel with 100, La Huerta Hotel with only 34, Molanguito Hotel that does have a TV. On the other hand there are some restaurants: Las Palomas, next to the reception of the Hotel La Gruta, El Huamúchil, next to the river, on the ground floor of the Grutas hotel, Paraíso Escondido, modern and very close to the hot springs. For something cheaper you have El Paraje, El Paraíso, La Huerta, El Malecón and El Huamuchil.

Finally, if you like the tent or tent there is an area to do this type of tourism. And last but not least, the prices: General admission per person per day costs 140 Mexican pesos. With it you can enter the Grotto, the Tunnel, the river, the pools, go hiking, swim in the thermal pools, see the waterfalls and more, all within the two areas of the park. It is not a 24 hour ticket, remember that.

If you arrive by minibus, it will leave you eight kilometers from caves and then you have to take a van to get to the park. The prices, depending on the part of the park where you go, are between 60 and 60 Mexican pesos, and to move inside a normal ticket costs 10 Mexican pesos. And to give you an idea, a simple room with a balcony at the Hotel La Gruta with a double bed costs 650 Mexican pesos.