Parque Ecológico El Cantil

The best climbing in the city itself—in fact a thoroughly bizarre place to find such good cliffs—is at Parque Ecológico El Cantil (Av. Ticoman, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Tues.–Sun.). This park, built around a ring of exposed rock jutting up out of the valley floor, is located in a dirty, semi-industrial neighborhood in Northern Mexico City. Despite the unappealing surroundings, the rocks have several dozen bolted, top-rope, and trad routes ranging from 5.8 to 5.12, some fully 25 meters high. I was told the rock is volcanic, but it’s smooth and hard, nothing like the hardened lava climbing in the south of the city. It’s popular on weekends and is a great place to come if you don’t have enough time to get outside of the city.