Cuatro Ciénegas Overview

Although the town of Cuatro Ciénegas (pop. 8000) is not well-equipped for tourism, the 843km wildlife preserve surrounding the community makes for a not-to-be-missed eco-adventure. Located in the valley between two mountain ranges, the Cuatro Ciénegas marsh area offers a unique biosphere of mixed desert and swampland flora and fauna unavailable anywhere else in the Chihuahua Desert. Indeed, there is no other place like Cuatro Ciénegas in the entire world.

Transportation And Practical Information. The Camionera Central (☎696 0711) is right in the centro on Hidalgo, and offers second-class bus service. Autotransportes Coahuilenses runs to: Monterrey (180 pesos); Monclova (2hr., every hour, 45 pesos.); Torreón (3hr., 8 daily, 137 pesos) via San Pedro (2hr., 119 pesos); Saltillo (5hr., 167 pesos). There are no taxis in town.

The tourist information office located on the corner of Juárez and Venustiano Carranza can give helpful advice about the area, but is likely to hold sporadic hours (☎696 0574. Open M-Sa 10:30am-5pm). Accurate and free information about the reserve can also be obtained at Herpetarium. Other services include: Banco Santander on 201 Zaragoza cornered with Escobedo (24hr. ATM; open M-Sa 9am to 4pm, Su 10am-2pm); emergency ☎066; police (☎696 0810); Clínica de Salud, Juárez Ote. (☎696 0210); Farmacia Similar, 202 Juárez Ote. (open daily 10am-2pm and 4pm-8pm); Cyber Cafe 200 Juárez Pte. (Internet access 10 pesos per hr.; open daily 8am-10pm); and the post office, Hidalgo 216 Pte. (☎696 0196). Postal Code: 27640.

Accommodations And Food. Hotel Ibarra 3, Zaragoza 200, offers basic amenities including TV and hot showers. (☎696 0129. Singles 200 pesos; doubles 300 pesos. Cash only.) Hotel Cuatro Ciénegas 1, Hidalgo 206 across from the Hotel Plaza, has even cheaper rooms and TV, but no private baths. (☎796 0693. Singles 150 pesos; doubles 200 pesos. Cash only.) Camping is readily available at Río Los Mezquites, Poza la Becerra, and Las Playitas as long as you bring your own tent. Costs are subject to the whim of the particular landowner, but are rarely more than 50 pesos per person.

La Casona 4, Zaragoza 109, serves excellent steaks any style (90-110 pesos) in front of a big screen TV. (☎696 0073. Beer 20 pesos. Traditional antojitos 40-60 pesos per plate. Open daily 8am-10pm. Hours likely to change during soccer games. AmEx/MC/V.) For cheaper fare and hearty breakfasts, head to El Padrino 3, at 204 Juárez. Enjoy chicken flautitas (8-for-25 pesos) or huevos al gusto for 20-35 pesos. (Open daily 8am-6pm. Cash only.)

Sights. In town, check out the  Acuario y Herpetario Minckley, Morelos Sur 112, run by the extremely knowledgeable biologista Arturo Contreras, who claims to have once been the world’s youngest ecotourism guide. Among the main attractions are venomous cascabeles (rattlesnakes), giant vinagroons (whip scorpions), and extremely aggressive red-eared turtles. Photos can be taken with the non-poisonous vipers for 30 pesos. The Acuario is staffed entirely by enthusiastic volunteer adolescents. (☎696 1102. Admission 20 pesos. Open M-Sa 10am-1pm and 4-8pm.) Also open to visitors is the Museo Casa de Carranza, V. Carranza 105, where Mexico’s first constitutionalist president passed his childhood years. Many of the revolutionary leader’s documents and personal effects are still kept intact within. Permission must be granted by Venustiano’s fifth-generation granddaughter in order to take photos. (Open Tu-Su 9am-1pm. Free.) Wineries such as Bodegas Ferriño, share part of Cuatro Ciénegas’s 150-year old vintner tradition. (☎696 0033. Call ahead for directions and tour arrangements. Open M-Sa 8am-8pm. Free tours and tastings.)

Area De Protección De Flora Y Fauna Cuatro Ciénegas

The Reserve is about 20min by car, southwest of the town along Hwy. 30. If you’ve brought your own vehicle, you shouldn’t have any problems moving around, although a few sites are restricted to guided tours.  Arturo Contreras and the Minckley Acuario team offer car tours and excellent biological info on the various critters and vegetation. (500 pesos to take a guide along with you in your own vehicle. 1000 pesos for a bilingual tour of every inch with Arturo himself. It is advisable to arrive at the visitor’s center, Morelos 112, Su early on the weekends.)

There are few indications that an oasis exists in the arid and unforgiving desert, within the 4000 hectares surrounding the strip off Hwy. 30. Yet, the misplaced marshlands known simply as La Reserva are home to almost 300 native species of flora and fauna—about three dozen of which are endemic and isolated, meaning they are native to the area and never migrate out of the biosphere. Even more surprising is the fact that there are only a handful of each species, meriting La Reserva’s nickname: the Galapagos of Mexico. Among the pocket endemics are foxes, scorpions, snails, and poisonous frogs. The system of underground rivers flowing under the clay-baked soil, along with over 550 lagoons, bogs, lakes, and ponds—collectively known as pozas—provide specimens with vital nutrients.

For those interested in a quick, pre-ecoadventure picnic, the turnoff for Río Los Mezquites is 6km down the road on the left. Follow the road to a refreshing stream, complete with barbecues, palapas, and public toilets. Swimming is allowed in most parts of the river. Camping is also available with landowner’s permission and the payment of a small fee.

Begin your explorations at Poza las Tortugas. One of the largest and clearest pozas, Las Tortugas is also the only artificial watering hole in the park. Almost 50 species of fish live under the water’s surface, the majority of which are named after founding biologist Dr. Minckley. Turtle Pond is also the host of the reserve’s informative Visitor’s Center. (Open Tu-Su 10am-7pm. 25 pesos.) A short walk away is the clean, cerulean Poza Azul, maintained entirely by local funding. Buses from town (25min., 25 pesos) run twice daily to the popular Poza la Becerra, which offers the marshland’s only chance to soak in hot, pristine waters right in the middle of the desert. Schools of coahuilense children stock the pozas in this area with schools of coahuilense fish. (☎696 0574. Open daily 9am-9pm. 40 pesos, children 20 pesos.) Don’t miss the stretch of gleaming, white gypsum sand known as Las Arenales, the second largest sand deposit in the world after New Mexico’s White Sands. Guided tours are mandatory for this section; inquire at the tourist office. The dunes are also home to the rare camel-hoof alacrán (scorpion).