I have been describing interesting trails in Western Mexico ever since I wrote wrote my first “How to get there” for the Guadalajara Reporter in 1985.
That first route was the sendero used by the people of Ahualulco to visit Las Piedras Bola, the Great Stone Balls, about 21 kilometers to the southwest, high in the hills. The hike to the Piedras was memorable because our guide, a ten-year-old boy, managed to get us lost just long enough for the first feelings of panic to tingle the hairs on the back of my neck and I decided then and there it was my sacred duty to make my routes so obvious that my readers would be able to reach their destination entirely on their own.
For years I drew trail maps (with lots of landmarks) to show the way, until at last the GPS track was invented, making it a whole lot easier to follow a trail, step by step.
Now I’m happy to report another milestone for hiking in Mexico: the foundation of Senderos de México, an organization dedicated not only to helping people find their way along Mexico’s vast network of rural trails, but also to rescuing, rehabilitating and preserving ancient footpaths, some of them in use before the arrival of the Conquistadores.
“The problem,” says Javier Michel Menchaca, one of the organization’s founders, “is that mechanization is reaching remote communities and many of our nation’s great old trails are simply vanishing.”
This realization prompted the founding of Senderos de México in Ajijic two years ago. Since then, numerous outdoors enthusiasts have rallied around the concept and today Senderos has an office in Guadalajara and a full-time director, Alicia Castillo, who kindly outlined for me the main goals of the organization.
“We’d like to create a situation where hikers in Mexico can benefit from trails which are well-made, easy-to-follow, environmentally friendly and safe. We want to support senderismo in every possible way, from making and restoring trails to creating standards which can be applied nationwide.”
The founders of the organization have made community development a top priority in their program. “It’s important for hikers to realize that the land they are trekking on has owners,” says Castillo. They could easily benefit local communities and themselves, she suggests, by hiring guides and buying local products.
Senderos de México would like to see hikers not only avoiding damage to the environment, but also learning all about it. Physical signs and smart-phone information will describe trees, wildlife and geological formations along the way.
As for standardizing trail information, they are consulting with similar organizations in the United States and Spain to create a national system that will make it easy for people to understand distance, difficulty and direction of a trail as well as the attractions hikers might see along the route.
Although Senderos is in its infancy, it has already created a website which will no doubt gain in popularity as outdoors enthusiasts discover it. I checked out senderosdemexico-jalisco.org and found six trails listed, two of them close to Lake Chapala. Each trail can be viewed on Google Earth or Google Maps along with detailed info on length, altitude gains, etc., plus a few pictures. Yes, they can be downloaded, but for the moment only as gpx files. Useful features which you won’t see on Wikiloc.com are buttons instantly showing you how to reach the trailhead by car or on foot.
The website shows that restaurants can be found near these trails, but for the moment no concrete information or locations are given. In fact, none of the trails shown have waypoints of any sort, not even the starting and ending points, which I would consider vitally important. I hope Senderos will eventually show waypoints and will produce an app superior to that of Wikiloc.
Several of the trails on the website have been rehabilitated and signposted by volunteers and can be considered models of what could be done nationwide to transform hiking in Mexico.
Considering that it was conceived only two years ago, Senderos de México has already accomplished a lot. They now hope to attract the attention of active caminantes and excursionistas all over Mexico and to enlist their help. If you would like to lend them a hand, they are in need of things like cameras, GPS’s, vehicles and money. As for volunteer work, they need people to check old and new trails, to check whether signs are still standing and, after training, to upload trails and information to their website.
Along with the website mentioned above, Senderos de México also has a Facebook page: Senderos de Mexico – Caminando Jalisco. Their email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. And, yes, they speak English!