Puente de Dios Queretaro
Arriving at Puente de Dios Queretaro was purely coincidental, we had been driving through the Sierra Gordas and our aim was to try and find a waterfall called The Chuveje but when we arrived we were told it was closed by the lady at the gate, she did however mention to us that Puente De Dios, tucked deep into the mountains was just around the corner was open. Our first thought was that we had already been there because there is another Puente De Dios which you can read about here in Tamasopo a few hours north but when she told us it was a different one and literally 15 minutes away we decided to head there.
When we finally arrived, 15 minutes was a pretty generous time frame it took more like 30 or 40 due to the road being terribl, it’s pretty typical for this region, most of the roads are narrow, windy and can be extremely steep. So when we finally arrived we were blown away and we couldn’t believe this hadn’t shown up during all of our research.
Puente De Dios Queretaro was so incredibly beautiful! You have two options to hike we chose the river walk. It’s a nice relaxing hike along the edge of a river with crystal clear, amazingly blue water, you cross small bridges, climb
The other hike takes you on what I was told is a more strenuous hike up through the jungle to the top of the waterfall. This also sounded nice but I just can’t imagine it is anywhere near as beautiful as the walk along the river.
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Getting to Puente de Dios Queretaro
Getting to Puente de Dios Queretaro is not the easiest thing in the world but I can guarantee the effort will be worth it!
Your best option would be to couple a trip here with a trip to Los Pozas which you can read about here. Getting to Xilitla is a fairly easy step as it is a fairly heavily trafficked tourist route due to Las Pozas once there the drive to Puente de Dios is only 100 kilometers, although the distance is not long it is a slow drive, but the road winding through the Sierra Gordas is extremely beautiful.
Xilitla to Jalpan De Serra
When you leave Xilitla you want to head southwest on the MEX120 you follow this road for 82 kilometers and you will arrive in the middle of Jalpan De Serra, when here you want to continue on the MEX120 which heads to the left at the main intersection in town.
Jalpan de Serra to Puente de Dios
From this point, you drive an extra 19kms and then on your left, you will see a sign that says Cascada El Chuveje. If it is open that is for sure worth a look because the photos on the internet looked beautiful, unfortunately for us though it was closed this day.
You continue on past El Chuveje for 4.8 kms, the road here is so incredibly windy that you kind of question if it was really the easiest way to build it, never the less after 4.8kms you will see a small turnoff to the right, this is the road you want to take, now I don’t remember seeing a sign but it is possible there was a small one. This road is a steep windy downhill road in fairly bad condition so expect the next few kilometers to be slow also. After almost 6kms you will see the parking lot and a few small stands selling food and a few other things and that’s it. You’re there.
How much does it cost to enter Puente de Dios.
Once we arrived we paid 30 pesos(20 pesos was 1 USD at the start of 2019) to park and then the entrance fee to the park was 50 pesos per person, you have the option of going with a guide, this is great for local knowledge on the flora and fauna, were happy to pay the money to support the local economy but often the guides don’t want to take half a day doing these sorts of things so we opted to go without one.
The other option that we thought about afterward that might have been better would be to go with one there to get all the knowledge and then send him back and hike back ourselves, but ultimately it’s up to you.
Other sites in San Luis Potosi
Visiting Las Pozas is probably the reason you’re in the area. If you’re not here for that then you should be as it is absolutely incredible!
Puente De Dios an incredibly beautiful spot tucked into the mountains.
Salto del Agua another amazing spot that seems to remain extremely uncrowded most of the year.
Being sustainable while traveling.
Mexico is an extremely beautiful place and between the beaches, the coral reefs, and all of the waterfalls there are a few small things we can do to help keep them pristine.
My first tip for this especially for the cenotes, and coral reefs or any delicate ecosystem really is to use a sunscreen specifically designed not to damage the reefs or impact marine life in any way.
Not only that, most of them are better for your skin as well as the environment.
There are more and more options becoming available when it comes to this but here are a few of our favorites.
Kiss My Face is one brand that is making a really nice mineral face and body cream. They are also cruelty-free so you can feel good about that, and it contains beeswax, green tea, sunflower oil, and sage.
Sun Bum is a super fun company that has a large range of reef friendly mineral products. Ingredients include mineral zinc oxide, coconut oil, and cocoa seed butter.
All Good Sunscreen Butter is one we have not actually tried but have been hearing a lot of good things about online. All good use zinc oxide mineral ingredient to protect your skin, as well as coconut oil, beeswax, and vitamin E oil.
Insect Repellent
Bug spray is something else you should be conscious of using before going in the water. If you’re just on your way to the beach or a waterfall you don’t need to drown yourself in bug spray before jumping in. A lot of the chemicals can be toxic and help do damage to the ecosystems.
I personally try and avoid any kind of repellent unless I am getting absolutely destroyed. I just have a thin pair of cotton pants and a long sleeve button up that is made of thin material to try and stay cool at the same time. However, we do carry bug spray and there are some pretty clever options out there so you might want to check these out. Not only will the first two option be better for you all round they will also reduce your single-use plastics ever so slightly.
Exofficio Bugs Away Leggings these are for you if you’re like us and don’t like bug spray, they also have pants for men. We just put long pants on in the morning and evening when it starts to cool down and the bugs really start to come out.
Royal Robbins Mens Bug Barrier shirt I love long sleeve button ups for travel, its too hot, no worries, undo the buttons, roll up the sleeves and you’re good. Cools down, roll the sleeves back down and do the buttons up. This shirt also comes with treated fabric to help repel bugs. I went for the plain light blue option but that’s all up to you.
Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent If you are really hell-bent on some kind of spray because, well lets face it sometimes it is just too hot to wear long sleeved anything then this is probably your best option. DEET free and non-aerosol it has a couple of thousand 5 star reviews on Amazon which is pretty incredible really.
