Cascadas la Morena

A night by the campfire at the foot of a waterfall more than 30 metres high is what the Cascada La Morena eco-park offers, in the forest around Huauchinango. The park is reached from kilometre 191 of the Mexico–Tuxpan road and lies about 3 km southwest of the town centre, but well above it: the neighbouring hamlet of San Carlos, home to just three people, sits at 1,833 metres, some 300 metres higher than the main square. Its staff lead hikes along trails through thick vegetation to see hills, waterfalls and caves, and run night walks as well. They say they have a decade of experience guiding hikes.

The most common visit pairs the walk to the waterfall with a night in the park's campground. Packages booked online include admission, use of the facilities, firewood and a pitch; the most basic starts at 150 pesos and does not include a tent, while another, from 250 pesos, adds a tent for three to six people. Times are set when you book, so agree on them before you set off. There is parking. The point is to sleep to the sound of the water and the calls of the forest, away from town even though it is only a few kilometres off.

Huauchinango, a Pueblo Mágico in the Sierra Norte, had 58,957 residents in its main town in 2020, at 1,534 metres. The municipality is damp and cool, with mean temperatures of 12 to 20 °C and 1,400 to 2,100 mm of rain spread across every month; about 41 % of its land is forest. Its water flows toward the Necaxa and the Tecolutla, on the Gulf side. In the mid-2000s nearly twenty thousand people spoke an Indigenous language, mostly Nahuatl, Totonac and Otomí. Blouses are embroidered in satin stitch, baskets are woven from jonote, amate paper is made and backstrap looms are worked; the table brings chiltepín-spiced or smoked chicken, mole and ant salsa, with pine-nut jamoncillo for dessert. The Xochipitlamas dance, played on the violin, is part of local festivals.