Poza Reina

A picture-perfect waterfall and crashing cascades in a gorgeous setting makes as good a destination as you'll find in Mexico. The hiking part is a bit monotonous being almost all ranchland but the surrounding hills are pretty and there's not much traffic. Thanks go to Gene Gaudi for this great suggestion.

It's a fairly long walk and there's no place to buy water so go prepared. This area gets a lot of rain so go prepared for that as well. The setting for the falls and cascades is wonderfully natural. So natural in fact that no trails have been built and so some agility is required to scramble over some of the boulders.

The trailhead is the colectivo stop in Tebanca at Aborrotes 'El Triunfo' at the far end of town. If you're driving the fact is that if you can drive as far as Tebanca you can drive all the way to Poza Reina. So it's a long walk for those who don't have cars and for those who do but choose to walk. For everyone else it's a short drive.

You can catch a colectivo for Tebanca in Catemaco at the corner of Independencia and Revolución Streets. Starting at the Basilica go five blocks north (six if you're counting short blocks) and five blocks east and you'll see the colectivos lined up. Ride the colectivo to the far end of Tebanca and walk in the same direction.