Laguna de Juanacatlán

Laguna de Juanacatlán sits in the mountains north of Mascota, in a bowl of pine and oak forest well above the valley floor. It is the most photographed natural spot around Mascota: still, dark water that mirrors the hills, cool mornings, and mist that often hangs over the surface until the sun burns it off.

The lake is thought to occupy the crater of an old volcano and is fed from below rather than by a river. It is roughly a kilometer and a half long and is said to reach depths of around 50 meters in places. The small farming villages of Juanacatlán lie on the way up, and the road climbs through some of the best-preserved forest in the Mascota sierra.

Most visitors come for a day of slow outdoor time: walking the trail that circles the shore, paddling a kayak or taking a boat out, and fishing. On the shore is Sierra Lago, a mountain resort with cabins, so the lake is not completely wild, but the forest around it still feels remote, and on a weekday you may have long stretches of the shoreline to yourself.