After publishing several articles on Tequila’s extraordinary 170-meter-high Los Azules Waterfalls, I was soon receiving requests from people interested in seeing this wonder for themselves. The only problem was, I had less than perfect information on how to get there, so I decided it was time to revisit the falls with a few hardy friends in order to familiarize myself with the access trail.
Los Azules are located at the northeast end of the town of Tequila, at the edge of the dramatically beautiful La Toma Canyon, which is about 600 meters deep with a tropical climate at the bottom. I have heard this magnificent canyon referred to as “El Machu Picchu de Tequila,” by a tourist guide who, I swear, was stone sober! Twenty years ago, friends and I had spotted Los Azules from the opposite wall of the canyon, but all our attempts to reach the falls had failed, until recently.
We now know that the water of Los Azules comes from springs in the canyon walls, not from surface rivers. The water is clean, more or less “room temperature” and the flow is constant all year round. Furthermore, my canyoneer friends say they’ve never seen a sign of flash floods here, which is why the Blue Falls are one of their favorite places to take newcomers rappelling.
Any car can easily get you to the trailhead for Los Azules, which is inside the city limits of Tequila. Next comes a short walk along a dirt road between two agave fields which are also strewn with chunks of obsidian. After about a kilometer, you’ll find yourself teetering on the very edge of the canyon wall, walking down a stone-paved path which looks like it’s been there for ages. The view is simply breathtaking. It’s hard to believe that the Santiago River, over 600 meters below you, has carved all of this. The wide, Machu Picchu-style trail soon narrows and after about 150 paces brings you to a T.
Here you can either go right, down to the pool at the bottom of the third fall, or left to the pool of the second fall. Last August, we went right and after about an hour we were standing next to a stream, still 100 meters from the pool where we wanted to swim. Not everyone in our group was ready to get his shoes wet clambering up the rocky river, so we were grateful to my friend Luis Rojas who soon found us a trail paralleling the river.
At last, we stood at the very foot of Los Azules, ready to experience the weird sensation of standing beneath a 70-meter-high shower. Here we could also sun-bathe, while countless red and blue dragonflies hovered above us.
Earlier this month, at the urging of my neighbors Justus and Pinky Mohl, Luis Rojas and I returned to Los Azules along with three famous Tapatio artists, Jorge Monroy, Ilse Hable and Martha Orozco, whose collective aim was to paint gorgeous, lacy, Fall Number Two.
Upon reaching the T-junction mentioned above, we turned left instead of right and after only 150 paces more, came to another T. At this point, going left takes you to Fall 1 
(dry at this time of year). We turned right and the trail soon became very steep (45 degrees, says geologist Mohl), and very rocky, inspiring all sorts of unprintable comments from the painters, each of whom was carrying an easel, canvases, paints and other artistic implements on his or her back. “It’s only twenty minutes of torture,” I kept telling them, but it didn’t do much good until suddenly the trail took a sharp turn and there, above us, wispy like a bridal veil, loomed Fall Number Two at last!
“Oh, how beautiful!” everyone gasped, and all the agony of the descent was forgotten in an instant, as backpacks were emptied and easels were assembled. Soon the painters were painting, the swimmers were swimming and the photographers happily recording everything. This time there were no complaints on the way back up, even though it took us 35 minutes instead of the twenty I had predicted. All of this serious hiking, of course, gave us a fine appetite, which we satiated at El Mar Restaurant, on the libre highway just two kilometers north of Tequila, with a grandiose view … of what? Why, of the very same La Toma Canyon we had just conquered!
As we toasted the Blue Falls, all three painters agreed that—in terms of effort—no previous painting of theirs had ever demanded so much of them and, I suspect, given them so much satisfaction.
How to get there
Head west out of Guadalajara on Highway 15 and take the no-toll road to Tequila. When you get there, you’ll see a large statue by sculptor Carlos Terres in the middle of the road. Keep going forward for 683 meters, watching for a cemetery on your right. Turn right here onto La Paz Street and go to the end of it (a T). Turn left, drive 940 meters northeast and park (N20 53.563 W103 49.627). Continue along this same road, but on foot (or on wheels if you have a high-clearance vehicle), for 902 meters at which point you’ll cross a dry riverbed. Now you are no longer on a road, but on a trail. Follow this downhill for about 160 meters to a T (N20 53.874 W103 49.206). Take the left fork downwards another 150 meters to a second T (N20 53.906 W103 49.238). The trail to your left goes to the base of Waterfall 1 which is dry most of the year. The trail to your right takes you 240 meters to the glorious blue pool at the bottom of waterfall 2 (N20 53.932 W103 49.261). The hike from your car to this pool is about 30 minutes and the drive from Guadalajara to the parking spot is about one hour.