If you search for San Marcos, Jalisco in Google Earth, you will be transported to a small town near the Sayula Salt Flats. This San Marcos is a bit of a curiosity because all the houses there have naturally hot water pouring out of the faucet, thanks to hot springs located under the town. For some reason, GE completely ignores the “other San Marcos,” located along the western border of Jalisco, near Etzatlán. Too bad, because “San Marcos of the West,” if I might call it that, has more than one surprise to offer visitors.
First of all, people have been making pottery here for years and if you ask to see the locally made mugs and bowls, you will probably end up getting a personal tour of someone’s back yard where you can watch every stage of the ceramic-making process from preparing the clay to firing the pieces in a kiln.
A few days ago, I got a phone call from a former resident of San Marcos mentioning petroglyphs and a picturesque river just outside the town. “If you have problems finding them, you might call upon William and Katie Cooke who run a small Casa de Niños there.”
A week later, a group of friends, including archaeologist Rodrigo Esparza, drove into San Marcos where we were welcomed by the Cookes and the children they were looking after.
The kids were delighted with the idea of visiting the petroglyphs, which are found on a hill about half a kilometer from town. We walked along a dirt road for a few minutes and came to the inevitable locked gate which—fortunately—Mexican etiquette allows you to climb over, under or through. In a few minutes, we were all standing on top of a huge, wide, flat rock tilted at an angle of about 30 degrees. We could see numerous spirals which, said Rodrigo Esparza, probably represent sources of water. “The entire set of engravings may be a map of this area,” he explained, offering to bring in an expert at tracing this kind of rock-art complex. Most interesting, he added, was the inclusion of two pecked handprints, one of which appears to have six fingers!
After checking out the nice view from the top of this hill, which is called El Cerro de la Virgen, all of us were treated to a snack by the Cookes, where we learned a bit about the successes and challenges of operating a children’s refuge in Mexico. So well-behaved and congenial were the children that it was hard to tear ourselves away.
Now we drove west for half an hour, through a pueblito called La Puerta del Coche, toward a park known as Agua Blanca. Suddenly Rodrigo shouted, “Stop the car!” and jumped out. At this point the road cut through a low hill and the embankments on both sides showed us that we were in the middle of a very significant obsidian deposit, one that had never been registered.
Even more exciting was the color of many pieces, a deep, rich auburn which none of us, including “Obsidian Detective” Esparza had ever seen before. In addition, there was an interesting combination of black and red, reminiscent of what is called Indian’s Blood. Even the black obsidian was unusual for its purity.
Well, that made Rodrigo’s day and we continued on to the park, which has covered picnic tables, restrooms and walkways leading to a truly spectacular river. Agua Blanca is the name and it is most appropriate: the water is very close to the color of milk, due to its mineral content. The river has carved a path through extraordinarily beautiful white and tan rocks and there’s a jewel of a waterfall with a deep pool for diving.
There were only a few people there on a Saturday afternoon and I am sure you would have this little patch of paradise all to yourself on a weekday. The entry fee is 30 pesos for a carload of people, 50 pesos for a camioneta.
If you decide to visit San Marcos, you may also want to stop at a train station along the way which was once the site of kind of concentration camp where Yaqui Indians were sold into slavery. You can read more about this sad and nearly forgotten episode of history by Googling the words “San Marcos” and “Yaqui.”
How to get there
You can reach San Marcos by taking highway 15 out of Guadalajara and following the signs for Ameca. After passing the turn-off to Tala, make a right onto the road to Teuchitlán, Ahualulco and Etzatlán. Keep going west another 10.7 kilometers past Etzatlán and you’ll see the old train station on your left, accessible via a good dirt road, at N20 46.720 W104 11.397. For the petroglyphs, drive another 1.6 kilometers and turn right onto Calle Quetzal. Drive north 742 meters and make a left. Go 551 meters west and you should be in front of a gate with the Cerro de la Virgen in the distance. The Petroglyphs are at N20 47.536 W104 12.474. If you’re looking for pots of barro, go to the home of Jesus Bernal at Calle Trinidad Garcia 5, Tel (386) 757-0349, GPS N20 47.667 W104 11.759. As for the Agua Blanca Park, you first need to get to the town of Puerta del Coche (N20 48.287 W104 13.534), located 2.3 kilometers northwest of the petroglyphs. From Puerta drive north 3.8 kilometers. The park is at N20 49.543 W104 13.264. Driving time from Guadalajara to San Marcos is just over one hour. It’s also easily reachable from Lake Chapala via Tlajomulco and Tala.