Archaeological site 51 km east of Tecate
An INAH rock art site near La Rumorosa, where Kumiai paintings hide among granite boulders, including the solstice-lit El Diablito.
El Vallecito is the only archaeological site open to the public in Baja California, set in the boulder country of the Sierra de Juárez a few kilometers from La Rumorosa, at about 1,280 meters above sea level. The ancestors of the Kumiai, nomadic hunters and gatherers of these mountains, painted figures and geometric designs in red, black and white inside rock shelters and under overhanging boulders.
The site holds more than twenty groups of paintings, and five of them are shown to visitors along a marked trail of about two kilometers. Look for El Hombre Enraizado, with white figures painted inside the rocks, La Cueva del Indio under a mushroom-shaped boulder, and Los Solecitos, with sun-like designs in red and black.
The best known is El Diablito, a small red human figure with horns. On mornings around the winter solstice, a beam of sunlight enters the shelter and slowly lights the figure from its feet to its head. INAH opens the site for the event each December, and it draws a crowd.
What to see and do
Walk the marked trail to the five painted shelters open to visitors.
Find El Diablito, the horned red figure lit by the sun around the winter solstice.
Look for the white figures of El Hombre Enraizado and the red-and-black suns of Los Solecitos.
Bring a picnic: the site has shaded tables and restrooms.
Getting there
From Tecate, drive east toward Mexicali on Highway 2D to La Rumorosa, roughly an hour. The site is a few kilometers away: from the free Highway 2, take the signed turnoff to the north near kilometer 73.5, cross the toll highway, and follow about a kilometer of dirt road to the entrance. It is open Wednesday to Sunday during daytime hours (arrive in the morning), with a small entry fee. It is cold and windy in winter, with occasional snow, and very hot in summer.
51 km east of Tecate
Directions from Tecate on Google Maps
Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.
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Weather mild
El Vallecito shares the climate of Tecate, 51 km away. The best months to visit are May, Jun, Sep, Oct.
Make Tecate your base
El Vallecito is an easy trip from Tecate, a Pueblo Mágico with places to stay, food, and more to see.
More around Tecate
-
La Rumorosa
· Town · 54 km away
A windy mountain town among giant boulders, at the top of the dramatic grade that drops to the desert toward Mexicali. -
Valle de Guadalupe
· Nature reserve · 54 km away
Mexico's best-known wine valley, about an hour south of Tecate on the Ruta del Vino, with well over a hundred wineries.
Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.