BOSQUE DE PRIMAVERA

The Río Caliente Spa is only a small, albeit important, part of the Bosque de Primavera. The Bosque de Primavera itself is a communally owned reserve for public use and enjoyment. It stretches over dozens of square miles of forest, river, and mountain, not far west of Guadalajara’s metropolitan edge.

Camping is allowed with your own equipment for a small fee, and three local-style balnearios (bathing resorts) line the warm Río Caliente, all accessible along the entrance road. Use the following access directions to guide your arrival:

By car or bus, follow Highway 15 west, exit the four-lane highway by turning left (westbound) at La Venta village, marked on the highway by Bosque de Primavera and Cañon de las Flores signs, 7.1 miles (11.5 kilometers) west of the periférico. Mark your odometer.

Follow the Cañon de las Flores signs through the village, straight ahead, south, about four blocks, then right, west, another four blocks, then left, south again. At mile .8 (km 1.3) you arrive at the Balneario Cañon de las Flores on the left (with warm pools, water toboggan, restaurant, picnic ground, and playground equipment; adults $3, parking $2). If there’s a rope across the road, ask them to let you pass (which they’re obligated to do) and continue a fraction of a mile farther to the sign and right-hand dirt road leading to the Balneario Las Tinajitas (about the same facilities and prices as Cañon de las Flores).

A glance at the handsome pine grove around you is a clue that you are in the Bosque de Primavera pine-oak forest. Camping is allowed most anywhere. Take care not to start a forest fire, and clean up your camp.

Continue ahead; at mile 2.1 (km 3.3) you arrive at a gate where, to continue, you have to pay about $.50 to an attendant. At the same spot, a dirt road heads right, through the pines downhill to the river and the rustic Balneario El Bosque (open Fri., Sat., and Sun. 8 a.m.–6 p.m., $1 per person).

Continue ahead; at mile 2.9 (km 4.7), the road splits. Take the left fork for the Río Caliente Spa gate a quarter of a mile farther. The right fork continues to the river and some informal riverside camping and picnic spots.

By bus get to Bosque de Primavera via second-class Rojo de los Altos (tel. 33/3619-2309) buses, which connect west from the downtown Camionera Central Vieja, sala A. Ask the driver to let you off at La Venta, then taxi or walk from the highway.