Las Mil Cascadas - A Day Trip From Mexico City
One of the highlights of my trip to CDMX was our day trip to Las Mil Cascadas. I had the most exciting, adventurous, and interesting day on this trip, jumping in waterfalls, bathing in crystal clear ponds and sliding down “waterfall slides”.
Las Mil Cascadas (literally translated in English to One Thousand Waterfalls), is still a relatively unknown attraction around 2.5 hours drive from Mexico City. Because it’s still moderately unknown, the park itself was quiet even on a weekend and wasn’t super busy like our trip over to the hot springs!
So let’s dive in and answer everything you need to know about getting to Las Mil Cascadas.
How do you get to Las Mil Cascadas?
Getting to Las Mil Cascadas isn’t overly straight forward. The roads on the last leg of the journey (last 30 minutes or so) are more like off road dirt tracks. They are narrow and not too easy to navigate. Because of this, I’d advise booking a tour with a CDMX local (this is the one we booked via Airbnb) rather than trying to hire a car and driving there yourself.
Note; this is advice if travelling from CDMX. If travelling from Taxco the journey may be more straightforward!
When Is The Best Time To Visit Las Mil Cascadas?
You can visit Las Mil Cascadas any time of the year but visiting during rainy season (May - July) is probably best. There will be more water present and some of the bigger waterfalls which were dried up when I visited in April will be running again come rainy season.
What To Bring to Las Mil Cascadas?
If you own one, definitely take a GoPro here. As well as this, don’t forget your towel, swimsuit and lots and lots of fluids. When I went here in April 2021, it was hot; around 38 degrees centigrade and I made the mistake of going most of the day without something to drink. I felt so ill the next day from dehydration - please don’t make this mistake too!
So, What’s It Like When You Get There?
Like I mentioned earlier, Las Mil Cascadas is still relatively unknown and so (at the time of writing), it is still pretty quiet even if you visit at the weekend.
The waterfalls will be slightly different depending on the time of year you visit. Visiting during April meant that there were less waterfalls than normal due to it being dry season. Visit during rainy season (May - July) and you can expect even more waterfalls and some slightly different landscapes.
We visited around 20 different waterfalls over the course of the day, as well as a small natural spring. Some of the waterfalls you can jump from with heights ranging from 3m up to 8m. I chickened out jumping from the 8m one but did jump from the others.
I went round Las Mil Cascadas with a tour guide who advised where to jump from, the heights of the jumps, where we could swim etc. I believe it isn’t compulsory to tour the park with a guide but I’d recommend doing so if you can as it ensures you don’t miss out on anything (some of the waterfalls and pools are hidden) and also to ensure your safety if you’re planning on doing the jumps.
What Else Is There In Las Mil Cascadas?
Zip lining is also available in Las Mil Cascadas. There is an additional cost for going on the zip line of $250 pesos per person. I’d definitely recommend doing this if you get chance to. It’s only a small zip line of a couple hundred meters but it’s a great experience and you can see over the top of the park.
There are also a couple of small eateries and snackerias on site where you can purchase food and drink if you’d like.
Hopefully this answers all of your key questions about Las Mil Cascadas. If you have any other questions feel free to comment below and I’d be more than happy to answer them!