The state of San Luis Potosi is full of hidden treasures and is a great state to get in some adventure travel. The scenery is full of rugged mountains, sugar cane fields, wild orange trees, lush rivers and super tropical landscapes that just get more and more tropical and stunning the farther east and then south from Ciudad Valleys you go. From Rio Verde east, there is a brand new toll road that will make driving in this region much more accessible.
I had read years ago about an area called Tamasopo that had groupings of waterfalls and the picture I saw enchanted me. I really wanted to go if I was ever near it. And we were! So I convinced Sam that we would sort out things like camping and directions along the way (he was not a huge fan of this approach, but I am very convincing).
We had vague directions, however, we have found that in almost all areas in Mexico with “natural wonders” there are many camping options around them. Mexicans are huge tent campers, and we have seen a surprising amount of campgrounds in more rural areas of Mexico. I had faith it would work out. I really believe if you approach everything with a positive attitude, the universe conspires to help you out. And it did.
We arrived in the very small town Tamasopo exhausted from a horrible sleepless night in a Pemex (it got dark and we were forced to stop). As we stumbled out of our car a woman approached us and told us she worked at a campground near a river and told us we could camp there. She also gave us a map of the waterfalls, showed us which ones were the best and helped us get breakfast in the municipal market. This town is in the La Huasteca region and the town was almost 100% Huasteca people. They were super warm and friendly and had the cutest kids I have seen so far in Mexico.
At breakfast (a stand with six women cooking, no menu and packed with local people) we had know idea what was even available. A man who spoke some English saw we were confused and helped us order, he even had the women get us fresh orange juice at another stand. We had huge plates of chorizo, eggs, black beans and freshly made blue corn tortillas. This is a town that does not see many gringos, in fact it was empty of almost all tourists, so we totally stood out. However, we were given so much kindness it wiped out our horrible night. It reaffirmed my belief that good things happen if you approach people and places with an open mind and heart.
Here is a breakdown of what we saw and where we stayed. It will make it easier for future travelers who want to visit this region:
Puente de Dios
This is by far the most stunning area. You drive through sugar cane fields to get here and there are almost no signs. Here is the GPS coordinates to help you N 21.93167, W 99.41588. Start at this waterfall and wear your bathing suit and wear shoes that you can hike in because there are miles of trails where you can hike to different waterfalls and along the river. We saw only one other family here, we were definitely in off season. It was a really special place, it exceeded my expectations.
This place was off the charts beautiful.
One of the areas along the river.
There were waterfalls everywhere.
The water was crazy aqua blue and warm, it must have had some volcanic origin.
First of all, YES, I am wearing a bathing suit. It just looks like I am naked. And yes, you can swim in the waterfalls! But watch out for the VERY strong current. I will never forget sitting alone under that waterfall. Amazing.
Sam swimming in the pool. The currents were very powerful. Use the ropes and do not even try it unless you are a very good swimmer.
The lower pool. I think if the currents have their way in the upper pool we swam in, you go through a bat filled cave, smash against rocks and shoot into this pool. Not recommended.
Me sitting somewhere on the river thinking “is this place real?”
We saw some wild animals in this forest, they looked like animals we have seen in Costa Rica.
El Trampolin and Cascaditas y Paraiso
After hours at Puente de Dios we headed through the town of Tamasopo and to the town of Agua Buena where we were told to camp. From here we explored the other waterfalls. My favorite one was El Trampolin, which felt like we were in the Shire from Lord of the Rings. It was so idyllic, we pretty much hiked around with our mouths gaping. The entire road (of the same name) is beautiful and you can walk up it and then hike through fields to different waterfalls. In fact, we ended up hiking into Cascaditas y Paraiso without paying on accident by climbing across the top of a waterfall (a local showed us how to do it, we were not intentionally being naughty).
This is the river we hiked up and camped along. It really was prettier than we could capture in a photo. It looks like the Shire.
Me hiking across a very slippery waterfall. Safety standards in Mexico are very lax and we were basically all alone.
This is the waterfall I walked across that sneaks you into the other park. We also did not pay for El Trampolin, we hiked in the back way.
You just hike up the grassy river and keep finding more waterfalls. The water was a smokey colored aqua blue and fairly warm.
Cabanas San Sebastian
The campground the sweet woman told us about was Cabanas San Sebastian and we were the ONLY ones in it. They charged us 100 pesos ($8.00) and told us we could camp anywhere we wanted. It was one of the most beautiful campgrounds I have ever been to hugging that perfect river. Here is the GPS coordinates N 21.953511, W 99.390367.
This was the view out our XP window. The Shire.
Parked next to the river, looking for hobbits.
Sam reading on the island in the middle of the river. We were super relaxed, how could you not be.
Overall, obviously, we loved it here. Part of the magic might have been that it was deserted. But I bet even in peak season, you would have a pretty tough time not loving this place. Here is a short and shaky video of our waterfall swim.