The state of Durango is part of the Northern Mexico Region, along with the states of Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas. The state capital is the city of Durango.
Set in basin and range country (think Western movies), the state of Durango was a center for the Mexican movie industry during its golden age. The state has a very mixed economy, including agriculture, mining and forestry in addition to services and tourism. The small and historic former mining town of Mapimí is one of Mexico’s “Magic Towns.” It is especially popular with mineral collectors and the perfect place to find agates, selenite crystals, calcite and other minerals.
- Durango– All Articles or All Recipes
Here are select articles and recipes related to Durango:
Gomez Palacio and Torreon: Mexico’s desert surprises
Three sets of twins – two of them unusual tourist delights – await the intrepid traveler who explores the area around the industrial cities of Gómez Palacio and Torreón in northern Mexico. The first, and most obvious, pair of twins is the two cities themselves, which lie either side of the River Nazas. Gómez Palacio […]
Durango Beef Stew: Caldillo Duranguense
This is probably the most famous dish to come from the state of Durango, and can be prepared with beef, pork, or the dried, shredded meat called machaca. If made with beef, a cut called bola, rump, is usually used, but I have gotten better results with filet. When using pork, I use pierna, leg, rather than loin, since the pork […]
Wildflower hunting in Durango
Driving across the state of Durango, flowers paint each region’s landscapes with local colors. Wildflower lovers enjoy Durangan flowers nearly all year long because a few hardy species tough out the region’s mild winters. Even so, mid- to late-summer and early-fall stage Durango’s most spectacular wildflower show, with composites lining roadsides, converting them into flowing […]
Durango’s colonial architecture: eleven quarry stone gems
Colonial Durango — Victoria de Durango, Durango — staged many of Mexico’s most important historical events. Historic figures, including Guadalupe Victoria, Francisco Gómez Palacio, José María Patoni, José Ceballos, Domingo Arrieta León, Francisco “Pancho” Villa, and Francisco Castillo Nájera carried out their duties within and among the city’s colonial buildings. Many of the city’s important […]
Puente de Ojuela in Durango: A 19th century suspension bridge from Mexico’s mining heyday
In a single second, excitement, awe, terror, and fascination passed through my mind, as I began the walk across Mapimi Municipality’s Ojuela Bridge, in the Chihuahuan Desert, of eastern Durango, Mexico. The adventure began years before the sole of my shoe touched the first plank of the more than 300-meter- (990-yard-) long bridge. As exciting […]
The Food of Durango, Mexico’s Wild West
The northwestern Mexican state of Durango, a fantasyland of rugged mountains, pine forests, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, fertile valleys and yucca-strewn desert is perhaps best known as the location for the many movies shot under its startlingly bright blue sky. Because of the diversity of its landscape, Durango has been the setting for films ranging from […]
TAGS – States, Regions, Cities
Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México (State of), México City, D.F., Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatán, Zacatecas,
Outside Mazatlán: Mexico’s real Sierra Madre
The Sierra Madre! The very name conjures up images of movie sets, mine shafts and majestic, rugged mountains, perhaps with cowboys riding through. Nowhere in Mexico is it quite so easy to experience and savor the reality behind these derived images as on the drive from Mazatlan to Durango along Highway 40. Just 24 kilometers […]
Unforgettable Durango
FROM FAR AWAY I am wondering about my state of Durango, Mexico. I am wondering how much rain has fallen on the Sierra Madre Occidental today or how congested traffic got in Durango City, the state’s capitol. In my head I envision the map of the state and pinpoint major cities and landmarks that I […]
