La Puerta de la Lima

La Puerta de la Lima is a farming village on the coastal plain of the municipality of Compostela, Nayarit, strung along the east side of Highway 200 between La Peñita de Jaltemba and Las Varas. Its twin across the highway is Lima de Abajo, and the newer Las Varas–Puerto Vallarta toll road (200D) runs just behind it. The 2020 census counted 719 people, up from 537 in 2005 and 589 in 2010, and the climate is warm, with an average of about 25 °C.

The village itself is small and practical: a few streets off the highway, the José María Mercado primary school and the Manuel M. Ponce kindergarten. What makes it worth a stop lies about 2 km to the south-east, in the hills toward the hamlet of Altavista: the Altavista petroglyphs, also known as La Pila del Rey or El Santuario. Along the Arroyo de las Piletas some 2,000 carvings have been recorded, 56 of them in the fenced area that visitors see, and the rocks surround a cold, spring-fed pool, the Pila del Rey, that keeps flowing even in the dry season. The carvings are attributed to the little-studied Tecoxquin culture and cannot be dated precisely, and the site is still a sacred place for the Wixárika (Huichol), who leave offerings and hold ceremonies here.

To visit, follow the road toward Altavista and turn off onto a dirt track; in 2020 visitors parked after about 875 m, where the ruts get deep, and walked about 1.7 km, some 45 minutes, to a gate with INAH signs, where a guard charged 20 pesos. The way is not signposted, so ask for directions or go with a tour from Chacala. Back on the coast, the long beach of El Naranjo, with its sea-turtle camp, is about 8 km away, and Chacala and Rincón de Guayabitos are each a short drive along Highway 200.