Hoya de Cíntora

From Valle de Santiago it is about 5 km southwest and roughly 20 minutes by car. Leave on federal highway 43 toward Morelia and take the dirt turn-off to the crater; at the edge of the village a dirt track drops to the crater floor, where a few houses stand. A 2011 account says the direct entrance was padlocked, so the writers went around through the community of Las Crucitas on about 5 km of bad road, and found no sign at the junction. Ask in the village which access is open, and avoid the rainy season in a low car.

No bus or combi reaches the hoya. The practical way is a bus to Valle de Santiago and then a taxi (there is a taxi rank in front of the terminal). The Central de Autobuses de Valle de Santiago is on Manuel Doblado s/n, between Libertad and Mena, served by Primera Plus and Flecha Amarilla with departures to León, Salamanca, Celaya, Irapuato and Mexico City's Terminal Norte. From Mexico City it is about 4.5 hours by car (the Mexico-Querétaro toll road, then the 45D to Celaya and Salamanca) or 4 to 5 hours by bus to Salamanca. Yuriria is roughly 19 km away and Salamanca about 23 km.

The flat-floored crater of Hoya de Cíntora and its salty water.
The black-and-white rock paintings on the crater walls.
The hill of La Batea, a volcano you pass before dropping into the hoya.
Rincón de Parangueo, a nearby hoya entered through a tunnel of about 500 metres.
Hoya de Álvarez, the largest crater of the group, with a farmed floor and a few houses.