Valle de Piedras Encimadas

Scattered through a pine forest north of Zacatlán, hundreds of giant rocks stand on top of one another in shapes that look like towers, castles, animals and faces. The Valle de Piedras Encimadas, the "valley of stacked stones," is really a cluster of small valleys at about 2,400 meters, and about 240 of its formations have been catalogued, some of them 10 to 20 meters tall.

Geologists trace the rocks to volcanic activity tens of millions of years ago, later carved by wind, rain and frost. Local stories are more colorful: giants turned to stone, an ancient seabed, even visitors from space. Fog drifts through almost every morning, which gives the place a strange, quiet mood, and the scenery has turned up in more than one television commercial.

The land is privately owned and run for visitors, with cabins, a camping area named after its biggest formation, the Dragon, restaurants and horses for hire. On weekends and especially during Holy Week it fills with families from Puebla and Mexico City; on a weekday you may have whole valleys to yourself.