San Nicolás Totolapan Ejido Park — Attraction in Mexico City

Lovely and safe forest, easily reached from the city, to get some fresh air and exercise. A paradise for cyclists and dog owners. Open from 7 am on weekends, last entry at 1.30, latest exit by 4 pm. Best to reach before 9 am to get parking with ease, tends to fill up fast. Costs 35 mxn to park, 40 mxn for walkers including children, 60 mxn for cyclists, 15 mxn per dog. Other activities available too like zipline, zorbing and horse riding. There are also childrens’ play areas, restaurants, a deer enclosure, a trout farm, camping areas and cabins.

If hiking, allow atleast 4 hours for a round trip to the viewpoint at the top, next to the stone painting of the Virgin. Keep in mind, there is NO MOBILE SIGNAL inside the park. Anyhow, the trails are not marked on any map. There is a representative picture on the park’s website as well as next to the ticket office which shows the built structures quite well but is certainly not to scale, the paths take far longer than one expects. Take a photo of this to refer to while walking. Am attaching a picture of it with markup of a route to follow that is straightforward. There are several paths going in various directions, unmarked in the picture, that could be quite confusing and are mainly for cyclists.

Straight in from the entrance , go past the deer enclosure ,till the restaurant Quecas Doña Mary. The toilets just before the reataurant were super clean. Turn right here into the playground and turn left on the path that goes alongside a huge open area. Keep on going till the trout farm ( we did not see any fish in the water). Turn right here to the big path into the forest, marked as the way to various places. Go straight past a camping area that comes on the right. After a while, one comes to an area with several swings. Clearly marked as “ La virgen” to the left. It takes another 2 km of uphill walk to reach the metal tower viewpoint. Do not skip the chance to go up steep steps to reach the top of the tower for unobstructed spectacular views over mountains and thick coniferous forest. This walk back and forth involved 12 km of walk, 500 metres ascent from an altitude of 2800 m to 3300 m at the top. We did not visit the labyrinth or the cascade.

The virgen stone picture was beautiful indeed. The path continues after this too but despite walking a km more, did not seem to reach anyplace in particular nor any better view , so turned back, some cyclists were continuing along. If cycling, make sure to wear helmet and adequate protective padding. The loose rocks and uneven surface of the paths, do pose quite a risk while speeding downhill.

For walkers, sturdy comfortable shoes,layered clothing for the cold weather, possibly need to shed a layer during the uphill walk. Carry water in backpack, some snacks perhaps, no vendors on the uphill walk. Reach...

We rented a bike here for 150mxn an hour (about $8 USD) but we kept getting lost in the trails and they were a blue or black in US terms. So, we returned them and hiked our way up to La Virgen (Lady of Guadalupe). It was beautiful to see the statue carved in the stone of her. It was a hefty walk up but duable with stops and water. At the top of the mountain there is a bathroom for $5mxn and there is a little stall with water and some chips. The view near the bathroom on the stone in the right is better then the main view on the other side of La Virgen.

Its $40mxn to get in as a hiker. Its $60mxn to get in with a rented or owned bike. We went by metrobus + subway + bus in 1 hour and 50 minutes from Narvate. Google maps wasnt always right and it was a bit of pain but we made it for quite cheap! Got dropped off right at the gates.

We also ate at one of the restaurants there and for $30 USD we had a ridiculous amount of food and drinks. The Gorditas were DELICIOUS! Gordita with Chorizo was the best one! We havent experienced them anywhere else in Mexico yet - they are like a Mexican Arepa!

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Excelente parque para caminar, subir a la montaña y explorar los senderos, la verdad lo que viene en el mapa del parque no lo visitamos, pero lo bueno bueno es subir a los senderos de hasta arriba haaasta el fondo. El estacionamiento cobra 40.00 (enero 2025) Para iniciar pregunta por el viaje en camión hasta el mirador de la virgen (que es el último punto en el mapa que tienen en la entrada). El camión te cobra 120.00 (enero 2025) por persona, dice que te sube 2.5 km hacía arriba. La verdad tendrás mucho frío y te pegarás en la espalda en ese trayecto, pero aguanta, vale la pena. Ya arriba, desayunas unos sandwitch por que vas a caminar de unos 10 a 14 kilómetros en los senderos del parque pero hasta el fondo. Ellos tienen 3 miradores principales Zacacapa, Aguajillo y Marlvoro. Para llegar a cada uno tu y tu grupo deberán aguantar un desafío físico bueno. Mas o menos de unos 12 mil y 14 mil pasos en un día. Si puedes ir a dos miradores date por bien servido, no se si haya más, son a los que he ido. El personal del parque te dice que te recogerá en el punto de la virgen en el camión mas o menos como a las 3 o 4 pm. Y te dicen que si no llegas a esa hora ya te amolaste y te tienes que bajar a pata. Entonces mejor si hazlo. Disfruta el viaje, la naturaleza lleva a los chamacos que les super encantará e incluso recordarán este viaje para toda la vida. Tips: Lleva 1 lt de agua por persona lo vas a agradecer Lleva camara o celular pero saca videos cortos, los vas a poder presumir en todo momento Desayuna tortas o sandwitch, Lleva tripie y practica las poses de montañismo que aquí se puede todo Paga el viaje en camión y de allí caminas, por que puede caminar gratis desde abajo pero lo chido está hasta hasta arriba. Lleva tu vara para escalar o agarra una rama de árbol. Llevar esto te facilita el asenso y el desenso muy bien tus pies lo agradecerán. Visita el mirador zacacapa o aguajillo, uno u otro y acaba el viaje en el marlvoro siento que esta es una buena ruta y de allí te bajas al camión. En el camino al mirador zacacapa hay unas piedras encimadas, también podrías tomar fotos aquí pero estabamos ya muy cansados. Para los admin: Que onda con su río, deberían investigar por que se secó y atiendanlo por que era lo chido del parque (nunca lo vi jaja) Deberían hacer un mapa de los miradores de arriba o un mapa que compre uno. Deberían investigar de mas miradores o si se puede crear nuevos por que la verdad estan super buenos visitar...