El Pinacate and the Gran Desierto de Altar
Reserva De La Biosfera (CONANP) / Patrimonio Mundial · Puerto Peñasco, Sonora
El Pinacate is two landscapes pressed together in the far north-west of Sonora and inscribed by UNESCO in 2013. One is a black volcanic shield of lava flows and cinder cones with ten enormous maar craters, blast craters formed where rising magma met groundwater, of which El Elegante is over a kilometre and a half across. The other is the Gran Desierto de Altar, the largest active dune field in North America, with star dunes rising more than two hundred metres. Apollo astronauts trained here in the 1960s because the volcanic fields resembled the Moon. This is also Tohono O'odham country, and the Pinacate peak is sacred to them. The reserve has no fuel, no water, no shops and unreliable phone signal. The graded dirt roads need a high-clearance vehicle, and in summer the heat can exceed fifty degrees and kills people. Go from November to March, stop first at the Schuk Toak visitor centre, carry far more water than you think, and tell someone your route.
Centro de Visitantes Schuk Toak, Carretera 8, Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, 83550, Mexico
⚠ THE RESERVE IS ENTERED FROM HIGHWAY 8 AND THE SCHUK TOAK VISITOR CENTRE IS WHERE YOU PAY THE CONANP FEE, ask about road conditions and arrange any camping permit - do not skip it. Daylight hours only. ⚠ THERE IS NO FUEL, NO WATER, NO SHOP, NO RELIABLE PHONE SIGNAL AND NO MEDICAL HELP INSIDE THE RESERVE - fill up at Sonoyta or Puerto Peñasco and carry far more water than you expect. ⚠ THE CRATER ROAD IS GRADED DIRT AND HIGH CLEARANCE IS STRONGLY ADVISED. ⚠ VISIT NOVEMBER TO MARCH ONLY: summer temperatures exceed 50°C with no shade, and this desert has a long record of deaths. ⚠ WINTER NIGHTS DROP NEAR FREEZING. ⚠ CRATER RIMS ARE UNFENCED. ⚠ THIS IS TOHONO O'ODHAM SACRED LAND - stay on roads and marked trails and take nothing. ⚠ BORDER REGION: carry documents and expect checkpoints. ⚠ HOURS AND PRICES NOT VERIFIED FOR THIS FILE.
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