Some time ago, we stumbled upon a small shelter cave in a remote part of the Primavera Forest, alongside El Río de las Animas, the River of Ghosts. Inside the cave we found a shimmering white, bell-shaped column of rock which I decided to call La Reina de las Animas, the Queen of Ghosts.
We had reached the cave by following the river upstream, which had taken a lot of time and, of course, required numerous attempts (some not so successful) to cross the river without getting our boots wet. I wondered if we might not be able to revisit the cave more easily by approaching it from what Google Earth seemed to suggest was a dirt road passing only 500 meters away.
One fine Sunday in November, I set out with three friends to try to reach the cave “the dry way.” We succeeded and along the way wandered into a strange and wonderful place which almost made us forget our original quest.
We drove through Tala into Villa Felicidad, a picturesque area frequented by picnickers on the weekend and—unfortunately – by numerous noisy motorcycles as well. To our surprise, we were stopped at the far end of Villa Felicidad by forest rangers who told us that we would have to park right there and continue on foot unless we had written permission to proceed. This regulation was something totally new and unexpected, so, of course, we didn´t have the required permission, but the guard eventually let us drive through, after much palavering, “...only to take a quick look.”
We followed the road shown on Google Earth for two kilometers and came to a big iron gate which is apparently always kept locked. Here we parked and continued on foot.
The road soon narrowed to a footpath which took us through dancing wildflowers, shoulder high. The only tracks we could see indicated this must be a popular bicycle trail on Sundays. Suddenly a deep gorge opened on our left and a minute later we came to a small stream which may have had something to do with the creation of the arroyo. The water was milky white and is called agua zarca in Spanish. The color comes from tiny particles of clay which might stop a number of people from drinking it even though, as in this case, the water bubbles right out of the ground and seems free of the usual pollutants. Later, when I looked at our path superimposed on a topo map, I realized we had possibly stumbled upon the source of Villa Felicidad´s Agua Zarca River, which feeds “Hugo’s Heavenly Pool,” located just 3.5 kilometers west of where we were standing. Since the water in the pool is freezing cold, I’m sure there must be other springs along the arroyo.
We easily (and dryly) crossed the stream and a few minutes later found ourselves inside a truly enchanting landscape of bizarrely shaped rock formations, some of which looked like tree stumps, armchairs, bathtubs, long, curving walls and even an “Oreo cookie.” All of these were formed after a colossal explosion shot twenty cubic kilometers of ash and rock straight up into the air 95,000 years ago. What came back down formed the jal of Jalisco as well as curious rock formations like these, composed of rhyolite and known to geologists as Tala Tuff.
Well, here we were in the biggest concentration of these rocks I had ever seen. We almost forgot about our original mission. “Once we’ve found the cave,” I told my companions, “we’ve got to take a good look at all these rocks.”
At last we reached a point where the GPS showed we were only 500 meters from the cave. We turned off the trail and made our way through a beautiful wooded area with little undergrowth. It was a pleasant place for walking even though there was no path of any sort. Skirting a steep hill we came to the cave, which is just the right size to provide shelter for up to four persons in a thunderstorm. What makes this cave unusual is a smooth, white, bell-shaped column of soft rock, maybe two meters tall, connecting the ceiling and the floor. Since the cave faces a high hill called El Cerro de las Animas, I decided to call this curvaceous formation the Queen of the Ghosts.
After eating lunch in the cave, we backtracked to our trail to have a better look at the strange rocks all around it. We found countless examples of Fossil Fumaroles which often look like tree stumps above ground but are actually very long columns of rhyolite created along the path where gases rose through a thick layer of extremely hot ash. One curious formation was shaped like a slice of sausage, but because of its white color on one side, was called the Oreo Cookie.
Not far off the footpath we found a stately spire about four meters high which was promptly christened King of the Ghosts. But only 50 meters west of it we spied another pillar almost as tall as the King. Naturally, this became the Prince, and I suspect if we had had more time to inspect the area, we would have ended up with an entire Royal Family. I think it will take several trips to discover all the curious things that lie hidden inside this Garden of Ghostly Delights.
How to get there
Take Avenida Vallarta and then Highway 15 (Nogales) west for 25 kilometers to highway 70 which heads southwest towards Ameca. Now go about 18 kilometers and you’ll come to an overpass and turnoff to Tala. Drive about 1.8 kilometers SE till you come to a Pemex gas station and a stoplight. Here (N20 39.150 W103 42.641) drive into Tala on Morelos street. Go east 1.6 kilometers and turn left (north). Drive 320 meters and you will hopefully be on Calle Luis Rojas. Now drive east, out of Tala for three kilometers where you’ll reach the end of Villa Felicidad and (on Sunday) find Forest Rangers who will ask you to park and continue on foot or by bicycle. Keep going east on the same dirt road for two kilometers until you come to the locked iron gate (N20 39.568 W103 39.081). Follow the trail northeast. At first it takes you between private properties on both your left and right. After only 1.6 kilometers you’ll be in the middle of the enchanted area. The King is at N20 39.923 W103 38.378. You need a somewhat high vehicle (or a VW Bug) for this trip. You’ll find the entire route, through Tala to the weird rock formations at Wikiloc.com under “Garden of Ghostly Delights.”
Tala is also easily reached from Lake Chapala via Cajititlán and Tlajomulco. Driving time to the trailhead from either Guadalajara or the lake is about 75 minutes.