Meseta Cacaxtla / Barras Piaxtla
Meseta de Cacaxtla & Barras de Piaxtla = Sinaloa Eco-tourism!

North El Quelite | La Noria | Meseta de Cacaxtla and Barras de Piaxtla

Las Labradas Petroglyphs | San Ignacio | Lake El Salto | Cosala

Reserva Nuestra Señora Mundo Natural | Durango

South Concordia | Copala | El Rosario | Playa el Caimanero | Teacapan

Islands near Mazatlan Stone Island | Deer and Goat Islands | Bird Island

Meseta de Cacaxtla and Barras de Piaxtla are considered by many to be the Mecca of ecotourism in Sinaloa, and for good reason.

The enormous Meseta de Cacaxtla eco-reserve -- over 125,000 acres -- is one of the largest protected ecosystems in Mexico, and one of the most diverse.

Meseta de Cacaxtla received official designation as an eco-reserve in 2000, and is administered by Comision Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP).

The reserve is home to a very wide range of flora and fauna, including massive numbers of several hundreds of types of birds, nearly sixty species of reptiles, over twenty species of amphibians, deer, wild boar and even wild jaguars!

Bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west and extending into the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains, this eco-reserve encompasses a breathtakingly diverse group of ecosystems including both beaches and more rugged ocean shoreline; tidepools and estuaries; creeks; inland ponds and dry-tropical deciduous forest.

Barras de Piaxtla is a fishing village located at the northwest corner of the Meseta de Cacaxtla eco-reserve south of the town of Dimas that you see on the slippy map below, and has many charms including its lovely beaches and huge swarms of pelicans and other native and migratory birds.

Used as a port by mining operations from the earliest days of mining in Sinaloa -- it is first mentioned in documents dating from 1823 -- Barras de Piaxtla is now a village of a little more than four hundred, and home to the first lighthouse north of El Faro in Mazatlan.

The coastline near Barras de Piaxtla boasts both lovely fine sand beaches and massive cliffs that are home to the spectacular natural arch La Ventana.

The town is also just a couple of miles south of the unique petroglyphs at Las Labradas where pre-Columbian people of Sinaloa created works of art that still enthrall us today.

If you want to spend the night in Barras de Piaxtla you have a wonderful option -- the lovely La Rosa de Las Barras boutique spa hotel which is right in town, and offers all sorts of tours and eco-excursions in and around Meseta de Cacaxtla.

Meseta de Cacaxtla and Barras de Piaxtla ecotourism



Meseta de Cacaxtla / Barras de Piaxtla Mazatlan
Day Trip Directions

Barras de Piaxtla is easy to reach by car, and you can click here for a .pdf map and directions, but the basic idea is clear from the map below: you drive up the coast about 40 miles, turn west and drive straight to the beautiful beach!

GPS N23°66'31" W106°80'24"

Meseta de Cacaxtla / Barras de Piaxtla Map

Touring Meseta de Cacaxtla independently is certainly possible, any many experienced eco-tourists, particularly birders, choose to do so. But many visitors choose to visit this eco-reserve with professional tour operators.

There are a number of tour operators listed on the tours page of this website.

It is worth noting that three of the very best tour operators serving Mazatlan -- ONCA Explorations, Ecoturística Meseta de Cacaxtla and Sendero Mexico specialize in tours of Meseta de Cacaxtla, and are expert at safely leading visitors to the flora and fauna they came to see.

Facts and figures about Barras Piaxtla,
Sinaloa, Mexico

• Barras de Piaxtla is located in the municipality (municipio) of San Ignacio.

• Barras de Piaxtla sits at an elevation of about 30 feet above sea level.

• The population of Barras de Piaxtla is about 450.

• There are slightly under 100 homes in Barras de Piaxtla.

• The telephone area code for Barras de Piaxtla is 696.

• The postal code for Barras de Piaxtla is 82968.