This four mile section of the Camino de Juárez links El Punto with La Cumbre. It is a very steep and demanding ascent, climbing 1387 feet (423 meters), with descents of 391 feet (119 meters). There are several long sections of steps which present a big challenge to bike riders. In winter months the trail is heavily littered with leaves and pine needles, making the path slick under foot or tire. Given the option, hiking or biking this segment going in the other direction is the better choice. If you want to do this ride as an out & back adventure, consider returning to El Punto via the El Cereso trail, which has some challenging but fun sections. The CdJ runs roughly parallel to the El Cerezo trail near El Punto. The map below terminates at the new ecotourism cabins constructed at La Cumbre.
Category: Trail Info
Foothills, GPS, Hiking, MTBing, Photos, Trail Info
CdJ / El Estudiante
by Larry • • 0 Comments
The Camino de Juarez, a paved trail running over 46 kilometers from Guelatao to Oaxaca, opened in March 2024. This report focuses on the segment that goes from Oaxaca to El Estudiante, basically supplanting the older single track Los Molinos trail. The CdJ itself is accessed from Hwy 175 where it passes by the two small lakes in Huayapam. The map below shows the route from Oaxaca to El Estudiante, passing through Tlalixtac and then using the CdJ going uphill, with the return to Oaxaca using the highway. The round trip distance amounts to 43.1 kms (26.8 miles), with an elevation gain and loss of about 549 meters (1800 feet). While the trail has a smooth surface and no technical obstacles, the CdJ is steep in places – up to 18% grade – with several sections of stairs. Bikers with strong legs and a good sense of balance can ride the whole way, using the narrow border strips which run alongside the steps. More timid riders will have to dismount and push their bikes up the ramps. Either way, this is a great outing. Today’s ride took five hours to complete, counting an hour’s stop for lunch at a restaurant on the shore of one of the two presas in Huayapam.
GPS, Hiking, Mountains, MTBing, Photos, Ride Routes, Trail Info
Camino de Juarez
by Larry • • 0 Comments
There is an epic new trail near Oaxaca deserving of mention here. Under construction for two years, the Camino de Juarez officially opened in March 2024, though some sections around La Cumbre and El Estudiante were not completed until the late fall of that year. The trail runs from San Pablo Guelatao – the birthplace of renowned Oaxaca native, Benito Juarez – to the outskirts of the capital city. The trail commemorates the twelve-year-old orphan’s solo walk from his hometown to Oaxaca in 1818, leaving behind his years as an unschooled shepherd boy to embark on a lifetime of stellar achievements as a student, lawyer, legislator, state governor, supreme court justice and president and savior of Mexico during the war of the French Intervention. A contemporary of Abraham Lincoln in the U.S., Juarez can fairly be called the father of the modern state of Mexico.
The Camino de Juarez winds for 29 miles (46.5 kms) through the mountainous terrain of the Sierra Norte, starting at an elevation of 5790 feet (1765 meters) in Guelatao and concluding at 5020 feet (1530 meters) in Tlalixtac.
The highest point on the trail is 9246 feet (2818 meters). There is an elevation gain of 7631 feet (2326 meters) running from Guelatao to Oaxaca, with an elevation loss of 8333 feet (2540 meters) along the way. The paved trail has some steep segments containing steps. There are pedestrian overpasses in the several places where the trail crosses highway 175. The Camino de Juarez is amenable to hikers, backpackers, joggers and bicyclists.
Here are some impressions from riding several miles of the trail. First of all, we applaud the idea of a trail linking Guelatao with Oaxaca. For the most part the trail is 10 feet wide, though at times it narrows to 4-6 feet. In places it is quite steep, with a gradient of up to 25%. Cyclists should be wary of the frequent drainage channels that cross the path. Riders should be on the lookout for some of the dips that drop up to a foot very suddenly; and take care crossing the channels which sometimes run diagonally across the path. Both of these can cause a nasty spill if not traversed with caution.
The map below shows just a small section of the trail running from El Punto in the direction of Lachatao. For a map of the entire trail, please see https://www.wikiloc.com/trail-running-trails/guelatao-de-juarez-santa-lucia-del-camino-152383536?utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=share&utm_source=4731429
The map below shows the Camino de Juarez as it runs from El Estudiante to the presas in Huayapam, the next-to-last segment of the route just north of Oaxaca city.
Countryside, Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Trail Info
San Agustin Etla Aqueduct Trail & More
by Larry • • 0 Comments
Albi and Larry, two retired biking buddies who live happily in Oaxaca, set out one Monday in early March to test their strength and agility by riding along the aqueduct that carries water from a stream well up a mountain valley down to the water treatment plant in San Agustin Etla. This route is a perennial favorite among participants in the “Hoofing It In Oaxaca” program of weekly hikes and is equally prized by local mountain bikers. After registering and paying a nominal 50 peso permit fee, the two set out from the water plant and headed up the valley. The grade of the trail is quite mild, so the pedaling uphill was easy enough. More challenging were the narrow places where the trail balances on the edge of the aqueduct. There are also a number of spots where the trail jumps from one side of the aqueduct to the other. Most of these are bridged by planks of lumber which can be ridden over. The aqueduct terminates at a small water diversion dam in a mountain stream near the grand ruins of a hydroelectric plant built about 1900. From that point our intrepid duo continued onward, exploring a single-track trail that ran further uphill, generally following the stream. The trail had been recently groomed and marked for a mountain bike race, but even so the pair wished they had brought tools to prune back overhanging tree branches and clear brush from the trail. The riders decided to accomplish their return to San Agustin on a service road rather than retracing their uphill route, which made for a fast descent. All told, the ride covered 8.3 miles (13.4 kms), with an elevation gain and loss of 957 feet (292 meters). The outing began at the water treatment plant, which sits at an altitude of 6371 feet (1925 meters), and topped out at 6897 feet (2102 meters). The elapsed time for completion of the loop was just over two hours.
Countryside, GPS, Mountains, MTBing, Ride Routes, Trail Info
Monster Rides
by Larry • • 4 Comments
The members of the Pedalazos bike club have embarked on a couple of monster rides on recent Saturday mornings. These epic excursions took most of the day and entailed huge climbs and descents, challenging even the toughest of riders.
The first of these was a grand loop covering 48.5 miles (78.0 kms) from Oaxaca city through the small mountain hamlet of Arroyo Guacamaya, then continuing up and through the Sierra Norte mountains on logging roads to the ecotourism camp at La Cumbre Ixtepeji and then down the La Reina trail into Huayapam, concluding in Oaxaca about nine hours later. The outing began near downtown Oaxaca at an elevation of 5124 feet and topped out at a high point of 10,398 feet (3169 meters). Those who survived the ride managed to pedal uphill 7008 vertical feet (2136 meters), to be rewarded with 7073 feet 2156 meters) of vertical drop coming down off the mountain. Talk about an endurance contest! Kudos to all those stout – or foolish – enough to take on the challenge! Here is a map of the day’s route:
Several weeks later stalwart riders in the club set out on a similar epic ride, this time pedaling east of the city to the famed weaving town of Teotitlan del Valle, then tackling the unpaved road that winds eleven miles steeply uphill to the village of Benito Juárez. From there the group proceeded 10 kilometers to La Neveria and then dropped down the loose and steep Mil Rios trail, which comes off the mountain near the town of Tlalixtac. Start to finish, the circuit ride covered 45.3 miles (72.9 kms), with over 6250 feet (1905 meters) of vertical gain and loss. The excursion took 9 hours and 40 minutes to complete. Again, congratulations to those who persevered to the end, despite some serious crashes on the treacherous downhill Mil Rios trail! Below is a map showing the route taken: