Hiking - San Miguel de Allende
Hiking around San Miguel de Allende gives you a spectacular vision of this unique historic area and a special connection to the revolutionary heart of Mexico.
"Hiking has really changed my life for the better here in Mexico," said a San Miguel resident who hikes quite often.
This special outdoor activity seduces men and women as it makes them physically fit with enlivened bodies and brains. As well, many hikers become intellectually and emotionally connected with each other.
With every step you are exploring nature - amazing cactus, flowers, bushes, colored stones, volcano carved rocks, animals, birds and other flora and fauna. This special outdoor activity seduces both men and women as it makes them physically and intellectually fit with enlivened bodies and brains.
This picture gives you a good read of a gorgeous hike south of San Miguel in the Boca de Canada area. Often you go down into a deep canyon and then climb up the steep hill on the other side and carry on.
San Miguel hikes are quite different than common flat rambles in North America. Most of our hikes wind you up mountains or down into canyons and enable you to grasp a stunning connection to nature.
There are more than 35 established hiking sites close to San Miguel in Los Picachos Montanas, the Jalpa valley, Boca de Canada and other areas. As well, at least 10 more unique trails exist further away from town.
Height
San Miguel sits at 1,950 meters (6,400 feet) and is surrounded by mountains that go as high as 2,725 meters (9,000 feet)
There are also high mountains to the east in Sierra Gorda in the state of Queretaro and also to the West around the city of Guanajuato.
So given the height here and how steep you climb, you can find breathing a little rigorous. Hikers often need to take brief stops in order to re-capture their breathlessness. After a couple of hours of climbing, it is good for hikers to sit down for a rest, have water and a good snack, to re-bolster energy. Often breezes found near mountain peaks help hikers to comfortably cool down nicely.
We also try to make sure that hikers just use two legs and do not try to climb steep cliffs with hands and feet. Occasionally we do use our hands to help us balance well on large rocks, to crawl up or down arroyos, or to escape out of bush-blocked arroyos.
"The exceptional conversations we have on almost every hike inspires so many of us to get our brains linked closely to our bodies and our hiking colleagues." The memory of these superb hiking interchanges bounces us out of bed early for every hike.
Weather
Seasonal variations can affect hiking site choices. In rainy season you need to be cautious about heading into canyons, crossing arroyos and getting onto slippery wet hills. In the hot season reducing longer hikes means you will not get cooked, while in cool, dry season you can take longer hikes.
Safety
Hiking started thousands of years ago when people began to conquer the peaks of their nearby mountains. The world's tallest mountain - Mount Everest - was finally conquered in 1953. While massive tall peaks are very dangerous, most San Miguel mountain hikes are not.
Hikers quickly learn that going down steep hills is more risky than climbing. So coordinating eyes and feet is crucial. We recommend that people wanting better balance use hiking (trekking) poles to help prevent slipping on the way down. Here is a good example of a hiking team carefully studying how to get across a small, but deep, arroyo.
Occasionally hikers get into dumb bushwhacking. If your feet take you off an animal trail, then usually you are forced to struggle through batches of cactuses or prickly bushes, which can leave some hikers with scratches.
You also need to be attentive to avoid unhappy animals, to notice if snakes exist - very few have been found - and to avoid scorpions, bees and wasps that could whack you if provoked.
In addition, you must be very attentive and communicative with campesinos that you meet on a hike. It is good to tell them why we love hiking in their terrain and to express our caution to not damage their land or their campo crops.
Hiking Sites
San Miguel Hikes are rated from a low difficulty #1 to a high difficulty #5. There is a range of different types of hikes with the majority being in the lower half of the ratings.
Cows, goats and horses originated many of our hiking trails around San Miguel. Their continuous food need drives them up to higher feeding areas and results in them gouging out nice group trails. Needless to say, these trails help us discover new hiking sites, or variations, and we'd like to thank our animal friends for directing us to so many, otherwise invisible, parts of the mountains..
Here are the current good hiking sites: