✦ Huasteca Potosina · San Luis Potosí ✦
41 places worth the drive — turquoise waterfalls, extreme adventure, surrealist art and hot springs. One for every kind of traveler.
✦ 4.7★ · 161 Google reviews
Tours at a final price. A 30% deposit books it; settle the rest on tour day. Free cancellation up to 48 h before (except Eden in the Garden, non-refundable).
With a certified guide
Three wonders in one day: Tamul by canoe, the Water Cave cenote and the Huahuas abyss at sunset
Included visits
from
$1,550$1,450MXN per person
Three waterfalls, three different thrills
Included visits
from
$1,700$1,600MXN per person
Art, water and mystery in a journey of unique contrasts
Included visits
from
$1,400$1,300MXN per person
The most refreshing and complete journey in the region
Included visits
from
$1,600$1,500MXN per person
Xilitla
Edward James's iconic surrealist garden: concrete sculptures among waterfalls and tropical jungle.
Aquismón
The tallest waterfall in San Luis Potosí (105m), reached by paddling up the Tampaón River. A spectacular turquoise drop.
Aquismón
A 376m-freefall karst abyss (up to 512m deep). A sanctuary of swifts that spiral out at dawn.
Ciudad Valles
A series of 7 waterfalls with a jumping circuit, zip line, kayaking and skybike.
Tamasopo
A cobalt-blue pool beneath a natural bridge. Light enters the cave between 11:00–13:00.
Tamuín
The most important pre-Hispanic settlement of the Huastec culture.
Tamasopo
A paradise of turquoise-blue water with pools for swimming, ideal for families.
Tamasopo
A natural staircase of seven turquoise waterfalls where you jump from pool to pool with a life jacket, helmet and guide. There are jumps for every level — and anyone who would rather not jump can simply swim in the crystal-clear pools.
Tamasopo
A natural spot on the riverbank in Tamasopo, with small waterfalls, turquoise pools and huge cypress trees for shade; a quiet corner to swim and rest, part of the Puente de Dios Water Route.
Ciudad Valles
Sulfurous hot springs (a constant 36°C) and therapeutic mud.
El Naranjo
Two 50m twin falls with turquoise pools surrounded by preserved jungle.
Rioverde
A spring of fresh, crystal-clear deep-blue water — one of Mexico's best freshwater diving and snorkeling spots.
Tamasopo
A ~75m drop among dense jungle canyons — the second-tallest waterfall in the Huasteca and one of Tamasopo's best-kept secrets.
El Naranjo
A 70m karst rock wall with permanent turquoise pools — spectacular with or without the falls flowing.
El Naranjo
A constant 35m waterfall over limestone — the only one in El Naranjo that flows all year.
Aquismón
A 478m abyss where thousands of birds — parrots and swifts — trace spirals at dawn and dusk.
Aquismón
Four sacred caves with collapsed ceilings — light pours in from above like solid columns.
Xilitla
A crystal-clear river born from a cave — so clear you can see the fish on the bottom from the shore.
Aquismón
An oasis where the Coy River rises from the Sierra de Tanchanaco into crystal-blue pools with almost no current.
Tancanhuitz
The oldest pre-Hispanic ritual in the Huasteca — 5 men fly from a 30m pole in honor of the sun.
Aquismón
14 km of Class III rapids in turquoise water through a 500m canyon — one of the 10 most scenic rivers in North America.
Xilitla
Where concrete comes alive and the jungle turns geometric — Edward James's Las Pozas and 3 world-class museums.
Aquismón
A mostly Tének Magic Town and the gateway to Tamul, the sótanos and the Tampaón River. Its San Miguel Arcángel parish church sits on a Huastec platform.
Axtla de Terrazas
A crystal-clear river with pools for swimming, whose emblem is 'el chalán': an old iron raft pulled across the river by hand for over 50 years.
Axtla de Terrazas
A surrealist temple of traditional medicine built in 1974 by Náhuatl herbalist Don Beto Ramón, with a garden of hundreds of medicinal plants and spaces for cleansings and consultations.
Xilitla
A semi-warm waterfall in tropical jungle, steps from the entrance to Las Pozas, with pools for swimming and a medicinal temazcal.
Tamasopo
A free, public stretch of the Agua Buena River with turquoise water, mini waterfalls, pools and ropes in the trees to jump into the water.
Tamuín
A ~210-hectare pre-Hispanic Huastec center on the banks of the Tampaón River, with platforms and mounds. 'The Huastec Adolescent' was found here in 1917.
Coxcatlán
A 16th-century church and former convent, considered one of the oldest in the Huasteca Potosina, facing Coxcatlán's main square.
Coxcatlán
A turquoise waterfall and pool known locally as the 'blue pool', one of the least crowded natural spots in the Huasteca Potosina.
Coxcatlán
Remains of a colonial hermitage with stone walls and large arches, noted as one of the first Spanish religious buildings in the Huasteca Potosina; now in ruins and used as a community cemetery.
Tancanhuitz
A Tének-Nahua county seat famous for its San Miguel Arcángel church reached by a long stairway (the 'Church of the 149 Steps'), and for its strong Xantolo, huapango and indigenous dance traditions.
San Martín Chalchicuautla
A town known as the 'Cradle of Xantolo', where the Day of the Dead is lived with deep Nahua roots from October 31 to November 2. The Cascada del Manantial waterfall is nearby.
San Vicente Tancuayalab
A Huastec town recognized as the 'cradle of the Day of the Dead' in San Luis Potosí, founded by Franciscan missionaries in the 16th century near the Moctezuma River.
Tanlajás
A town of Tének roots known for its regional cuisine (zacahuiles, bocoles, cecina) and for the 'Toreada de los Diablos', an ancestral ritual where masked figures recreate the struggle between good and evil.
Matlapa
A Nahua community recognized as the cradle of son huasteco lutherie, where around 40 luthiers hand-build jaranas, huapanguera guitars, violins, armadillo-shell instruments and harps.
Ébano
A lagoon in the Plan de Iguala ejido whose emblem is a majestic ~200-year-old fig tree (higuerón) whose huge roots form two natural 'doorways'.
Xilitla
A Nahua community about 14 km from Xilitla, set in one of the best-preserved cloud forests in the Huasteca (pine-oak, ~1,950 m). It has wooden cabins for couples and groups, a camping area, campfires and grills, plus trails to lookouts, pools, caves and sinkholes. The trail to the summit of Cerro del Pilón, where there is often a sea of clouds at sunrise, also climbs through this forest.
Xilitla
The Olla de la Luz, also known as Hoya de la Luz, is a huge sinkhole 233 m across with a vertical shaft 193 m deep, crowned by Cerro de la Luz, the highest point in the Xilitla municipality. Reached after a hike through the cloud forest from La Trinidad.
Xilitla
A cavern hidden in the Xilitla jungle, about 100 m wide at the mouth and 300 m deep. Its walls are a popular spot for caving, rappelling and rock climbing (five bolted routes), minutes from the Magic Town center.
Final price: depending on the tour it includes transport from your lodging, entrance fees, a guide and, on 5 of the 15, breakfast. Groups of 12 maximum. Free cancellation up to 48 hours before (except Eden in the Garden, non-refundable).
See all tours →You can come any time of year. From October 30 through May the water runs clear, and the turquoise is at its most intense from March to May, which is also the busiest time. From July to October the waterfalls run at full force and the water can carry sediment; if the river rises, we reschedule rafting at no cost. For clear water ahead of the spring crowds, the best season to visit is October 30 through December. Easter week and July–August are high season — more crowds and more heat.
The price on each card is what it costs to get in if you go on your own: the per-person entrance fee where the site charges, and free access where it doesn't; where there is no fixed published fee, the card says so or gives the local guide's rate. The card for "Tampaón River — Class III Rafting" shows the price of our full tour instead, because that trip is done with an operator. Guided tours are priced separately, at a final price in MXN: depending on the tour they include transport from your lodging, entrance fees, a guide and, on 5 of the 15, breakfast. They are listed under Tours.
Yes. Cascadas de Tamasopo, Puente de Dios and Las Pozas in Xilitla work beautifully for families with kids from about age 5. The Sótano de las Golondrinas (1,234 ft / 376 m of free fall) and the Tampaón river need more age and fitness.
It's 267 miles (430 km) from Mexico City on the Mex-85 / MEX-70 toll highway — about 6.5 to 7 h by car. By bus, ADO runs from Terminal Norte to Ciudad Valles in about ~8 h ($600–900 MXN in executive class). Ciudad Valles is the region's base.
