Galeana, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
I have not seen any trip reports about this area, so I thought I would add my experience there from November 2014. Galeana is a nice town of about 60,000 people. Outside of town to the west is Pozo del Gavilan, which is a 400 ft deep sink hole. It is shown on many maps, including Google Maps (24.816103, -100.132233 24°48'58.0"N 100°07'56.0"W). However, we found that the turn off of the main road is not marked at all. What we figured out though is if you track it with a GPS, then just turn south when you are exactly north of the location of the sink hole indicated on the map. I had seen on the Internet that others had camped here, so we did too without issue. Actually it was kind of nice because there are zero cows in this area and thus no cow dung to step in. You can see the bottom of the sink hole without killing yourself. It’s pretty neat.
Not my photo...
Also in this area is Cerro el Potosi, the highest mountain in the state at 12,208 ft. There is actually a road that you can take to drive to the top of it as there is radar equipment at the top that serves the Monterrey airport. I have read that there is a 20 peso fee to drive the road, but no one was there to collect the day we went. The road isn’t very bad, requiring neither high clearance nor 4WD. It is a cobblestone road where the rocks are actually laid out in straight lines. The road is rough though, causing a lot of vibration. The road goes all of the way to the very top of the mountain. On the day we went we drove up into the clouds and did not see anything once we got to the top. The drive and the scenery on the way up and back was worth it though. A video at the top can be seen here:
http://youtu.be/AtKOZ1mWFJ8
Here is where the road used to end, at a tower part of the way up, already in the clouds. The road now continues on up to the very top.
The road to the mountain is on the left just inside the town of Dieciocho de Marzo. There is a sign for the mountain, you can see it easily in satellite images, and the “Map of Mexico” Android app has the road on it.
Road 24.885381, -100.180261 24°53'07.4"N 100°10'48.9"W
Summit 24º52'18" N, 100º13'57" W 24.871667, -100.232500
Also in this area, on the road from Galeana to Reyones is a huge natural arch, Puente de Dios. I am not 100% sure on this location. – 24° 52' 55.47" N 100° 5' 38.52" W Unfortunately we missed this due to vehicle problems and the resulting repairs cutting our trip short.
Not my photo...
I have not seen any trip reports about this area, so I thought I would add my experience there from November 2014. Galeana is a nice town of about 60,000 people. Outside of town to the west is Pozo del Gavilan, which is a 400 ft deep sink hole. It is shown on many maps, including Google Maps (24.816103, -100.132233 24°48'58.0"N 100°07'56.0"W). However, we found that the turn off of the main road is not marked at all. What we figured out though is if you track it with a GPS, then just turn south when you are exactly north of the location of the sink hole indicated on the map. I had seen on the Internet that others had camped here, so we did too without issue. Actually it was kind of nice because there are zero cows in this area and thus no cow dung to step in. You can see the bottom of the sink hole without killing yourself. It’s pretty neat.
Not my photo...
Also in this area is Cerro el Potosi, the highest mountain in the state at 12,208 ft. There is actually a road that you can take to drive to the top of it as there is radar equipment at the top that serves the Monterrey airport. I have read that there is a 20 peso fee to drive the road, but no one was there to collect the day we went. The road isn’t very bad, requiring neither high clearance nor 4WD. It is a cobblestone road where the rocks are actually laid out in straight lines. The road is rough though, causing a lot of vibration. The road goes all of the way to the very top of the mountain. On the day we went we drove up into the clouds and did not see anything once we got to the top. The drive and the scenery on the way up and back was worth it though. A video at the top can be seen here:
http://youtu.be/AtKOZ1mWFJ8
Here is where the road used to end, at a tower part of the way up, already in the clouds. The road now continues on up to the very top.
The road to the mountain is on the left just inside the town of Dieciocho de Marzo. There is a sign for the mountain, you can see it easily in satellite images, and the “Map of Mexico” Android app has the road on it.
Road 24.885381, -100.180261 24°53'07.4"N 100°10'48.9"W
Summit 24º52'18" N, 100º13'57" W 24.871667, -100.232500
Also in this area, on the road from Galeana to Reyones is a huge natural arch, Puente de Dios. I am not 100% sure on this location. – 24° 52' 55.47" N 100° 5' 38.52" W Unfortunately we missed this due to vehicle problems and the resulting repairs cutting our trip short.
Not my photo...