Riding El Chepe: The Complete Copper Canyon Train Guide
Published Jul 3, 2026 · updated Jul 3, 2026
El Chepe is one of the last real passenger train rides in Mexico, and the honest truth is that the ride itself is the destination. The mistake people make is treating it as an A-to-B shuttle and doing it in a single day. Do that and you’ll spend hours staring at scenery you can’t stop and photograph. Break the journey, and it becomes one of the best trips in the country.
The two trains, and which to book
There are two services on the same line:
- Chepe Express is the newer tourist train with a bar car, terrace, and reserved seating. It runs the shorter, scenic core between Los Mochis and Creel and costs more.
- Chepe Regional is the older, cheaper train that runs the full line all the way to Chihuahua and stops at more small stations.
Pick the Express for comfort on the headline stretch. Pick the Regional if you want the full length, a lower fare, and don’t mind a more basic ride.
Where to actually break the journey
Don’t start in Los Mochis, it’s just the port-city gateway. Instead:
- El Fuerte (Sinaloa) is the smart place to board. It’s a colonial town, calmer than Los Mochis, and starting here skips the least interesting flat section.
- Barrancas del Cobre / Divisadero is the stop you cannot skip. This is where the canyon opens up, with viewpoints, the cable car, and a zipline circuit. Get off here even if it’s just for the platform stop.
- Creel is the highland logging town, base for waterfalls, rock formations, and the Rarámuri (Tarahumara) communities. Cool, piney, and a good overnight.
- Chihuahua city is the far end, worth a day for its plazas and revolution-era history if you take the Regional the whole way.
What a friend who lives here would tell you
Book seats ahead in high season and buy the point-to-point segments you’ll actually use, not one long ticket you ride straight through. The train sells hop-on-style leg tickets for a reason. Plan two or three nights along the way, and sit on the correct side, going uphill from El Fuerte, the best canyon views tend to favor the right side of the car.
Timing and money
The classic route runs roughly a full day end to end if done in one shot, so spread it over three or four days. Ride between October and March for clear canyon air; summer brings afternoon rain and haze. Carry pesos, small towns like Creel run on cash, and card machines are unreliable, approximate but consistently true.
The bottom line
The winning trip is El Fuerte to Divisadero to Creel over a few days, on either train. Skip nothing at Barrancas, don’t rush, and let the line be the point.