DAY TOUR SIGHTS: Northeast Highway 175, the Calpulálpam Pueblo Mágico corridor

This is more of a scenic day trip visiting small villages, seeing spectacular views as you clim into the verdant mountain range of the Sierra de Juárez. You’ll find quaint shops and some crafts, but this is a less intense day to relax and see a more rural and forested zone. Alternatively, one can hunker down and stay a while to backpack, hike, bird, study traditional medicine, participate in ecotourism. (During the rainy season, June-October, this area is quite rainy, and as the upper portion is in cloud forest one can encounter mist and rain.)

San Andres Huayapam is the first village you come to on this route, and it’s worth noting the change of pace from the relatively frenetic city. There is a riverside well credited with an apparition of Jesus Christ, the “student dam” restaurants so popular on weekends. Some like to stay here in Linda Hanna’s tranquil refuge Casa Linda is “a veritable folk art museum set in the middle of gorgeous gardens”. Linda knows art and organizes tours. Huayapam is 15 minutes and a world away from Oaxaca city.

San Pablo Guelatao is at the foot of the Sierra, and is the birthplace of Benito Juárez, the first indigenous president of Mexico. Two hours from Oaxaca, very scenic with a lovely lagoon and with a trout hatchery and farm. At least two restaurants where you can order very fresh “trucha” (TROO-chah), trout.

Ixtlán de Juárez, which has existed long before the Europeans came, is about 1:30 and 40 mi / 65 km from Oaxaca city. This is one of México’s indigenous strongholds and centers of eco-tourism. There is only communal property, private ownership of property is prohibited. The surrounding cloud forest, pine and oak woodlands are managed sustainably. You can visit the Museo de la Biodiversidad (Biodiversity Museum) here; there is a university, the Universidad de la Sierra Juárez, which offers degrees in the fields of natural sciences, sociology and humanities.

Calpulálpam de Mendez is in the Sierra at an altitude of 6,690 ft (2,040 m), a designated “Pueblo Mágico” for its beauty. Here is the Traditional Medicine Center for learning and experiencing traditional healing, herbalism, traditional “sobadas” massage, the “temazcal” steam bath used for centuries by native people to cleanse and heal body and soul. There is a herbal pharmacy which even offers basic coursework. The church is worth a visit. Horse back riding, hiking, mountain biking, a forest zipline are here too. Nature lovers will find this area has more than 400 species of birds, 350 and more than 6,000 plant species. Crafts include embroidered dresses, blouses, napkin and blankets, and there’s an Art and Toys Gallery.

11 to 22 September fair of St. Matthew the Apostle includes parades, dances, bands, fireworks and more.