Nature reserve 7 km north of Coatepec
A large botanical garden and cloud-forest sanctuary run by INECOL on the old road between Coatepec and Xalapa.
The Jardín Botánico Francisco Javier Clavijero sits on the old road from Coatepec to Xalapa, on the southern edge of the city, and is run by INECOL, Mexico's Institute of Ecology. It is named after the 18th-century Jesuit historian from Veracruz and is one of the best-regarded botanical gardens in the country, with roughly a thousand plant species.
The garden is divided into sections that you can walk in an hour or two: a formal garden, an arboretum, a pond and pine collection, palms, useful plants, and acahual, the regrowth that appears when farmland is left to go back to forest. The highlight is the patch of mountain cloud forest, the same kind of forest that once covered the hills around Coatepec and Xico and is now one of Mexico's most threatened ecosystems.
It is a calm, shady place, good for birdwatching and for understanding the landscape you see on the coffee route.
What to see and do
Walk the trail through the cloud-forest sanctuary.
See the arboretum, the palm collection, and the pond with its pines.
Learn about useful plants and how farmland returns to forest in the acahual section.
Bring binoculars: the garden is a good spot for birds.
Getting there
The garden is at km 2.5 of the old Xalapa–Coatepec road (carretera antigua a Coatepec), about 15 minutes by car or taxi from Coatepec. It has usually opened daily from 9 am to 5 pm with a small entry fee; check before you go.
7 km north of Coatepec
Directions from Coatepec on Google Maps
Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.
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Weather mild
Jardín Botánico Clavijero shares the climate of Coatepec, 7 km away. The best months to visit are Feb, Mar, Apr, May.
Make Coatepec your base
Jardín Botánico Clavijero is an easy trip from Coatepec, a Pueblo Mágico with places to stay, food, and more to see.
More around Coatepec
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Cascada Bola de Oro
· Waterfall · 2 km away
A small waterfall in the coffee hills just north of town, with two pools where you can cool off. -
La Ceiba Gráfica
· Landmark · 2 km away
A printmaking center in the old hacienda of La Orduña, where artists work in lithography, woodcut and handmade paper. -
Cascada de Texolo
· Waterfall · 7 km away
A waterfall in a deep cloud-forest gorge just past Xico, where scenes of Romancing the Stone were filmed. -
Teocelo
· Town · 8 km away
A coffee town south of Coatepec, home of Radio Teocelo, one of Mexico's oldest community radio stations. -
Ex Hacienda El Lencero
· Landmark · 15 km away
Santa Anna's country hacienda on the old royal road, now a museum with period rooms, a chapel and wide gardens. -
Cofre de Perote
· Mountain · 20 km away
The 4,282 m volcano on the western skyline, a national park of pine and fir forest reached from the Perote side. -
Jalcomulco
· Town · 25 km away
A warm river village in a canyon below Coatepec, Veracruz's main base for whitewater rafting on the Río Pescados.
Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.