Parque Nacional Barranca del Cupatitzio

The Barranca del Cupatitzio National Park, officially the Parque Nacional Eduardo Ruiz after a local writer who collected Uruapan's legends, protects the ravine where the Cupatitzio river is born, on the west side of Uruapan. Cupatitzio means 'river that sings' in Purépecha. President Lázaro Cárdenas declared it a national park on 2 November 1938, after the federal government bought the land, a private estate known as the Quinta Hurtado; the old hacienda house by the northern entrance is now the Hotel Mansión del Cupatitzio. The park covers about 470 hectares, but almost all of that is the forested Área de Montaña stretching west toward Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro. The part most people visit, the Área de Río, is about 20 hectares and is almost completely surrounded by the city.

The river starts at La Rodilla del Diablo (the Devil's Knee), a clear pool about 3 m deep. Legend says the mark in the rock beside it was left by the Devil's knee when Fray Juan de San Miguel, the founder of Uruapan, confronted him with a cross. From there the water runs down the ravine past small waterfalls such as La Yerbabuena and El Gólgota, and springs on the slopes feed a series of built fountains, among them La Copa de Oro, Cutzi (the moon), Arcoíris, Velo de Novia and Janintzizic. Stone bridges with names like Los Enamorados cross back and forth over the water, and where the river is deep enough, local boys dive in for tips.

Under the tall trees the ground stays damp and green, with pines and oaks, giant ferns and orchids. CONANP studies have recorded more than 400 species of plants and animals in the park, including 134 bird species, 14 of them found only in Mexico, such as the long-tailed wood partridge. There is a trout farm you can tour, with fresh trout served in the food area along with corundas and churipo, and a crafts market at the entrance. It is often described as the second most-visited national park in Mexico, with more than 250,000 visitors in 2013.