Layout of Chihuahua
The city stands at about 1,440 m in a basin where the Río Chuvíscar and the Río Sacramento meet, on the dry eastern slope of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The centro histórico is a plain colonial grid around the Plaza de Armas, where the cathedral — begun in 1725 and not finished until 1826 — faces the square. One block north, the Palacio de Gobierno occupies the site where Miguel Hidalgo was shot on 30 July 1811 after his capture in the desert; murals around the courtyard tell the story and the spot is marked. The neighbouring Palacio Federal holds the cell where he was kept.
Avenida Juárez and Avenida Independencia carry most traffic through the centre. Avenida Universidad and Boulevard Antonio Ortiz Mena run south and west into the newer districts, and the Periférico de la Juventud rings the western side past the universities and the larger shopping centres. General Roberto Fierro Villalobos International (CUU) lies about 15 km east of the centre on the Ciudad Juárez road, with domestic flights to Mexico City, Guadalajara and Tijuana and cross-border service to Texas. The central de autobuses is on Boulevard Juan Pablo II on the same eastern side, roughly 8 km out, and is the terminus for the long-distance lines to Ciudad Juárez, Torreón and Mexico City.
Distances from Chihuahua
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chihuahua airport (CUU) | 15 | 20 min | Taxi, city road east |
| Cuauhtémoc (Mennonite country) | 105 | 1 h 15 | Hwy 16 west |
| Creel (Copper Canyon) | 260 | 4 h | Hwy 16 then MX-127, bus |
| Ciudad Juárez | 375 | 4 h | MX-45D toll road |
| Torreón | 545 | 6 h | MX-45 via Jiménez |
| Los Mochis | 653 | About 15 h | Chepe railway |
| Hermosillo | 700 | 9 h | Hwy 16 over the sierra |
| Durango | 795 | 8 h 30 | MX-45 via Torreón |
| Monterrey | 890 | 9 h 30 | Via Torreón and Saltillo |
| Mexico City | 1,430 | 15 h | MX-45D, overnight bus |
Districts and surroundings
Santo Niño, north-west of the plaza, is the older residential quarter and holds two of the city's museums: Quinta Gameros, an art nouveau mansion built between 1907 and 1910 and now run by the state university, and Quinta Luz, the house of Francisco "Pancho" Villa, kept by the army as the Museo Histórico de la Revolución Mexicana. Industry sits on the northern and eastern edges, where the Complejo Industrial Chihuahua and the plants along the airport road assemble electronics, wiring harnesses and aerospace components — the maquiladora economy that also drives Ciudad Juárez, 375 km up the border corridor.
Santa Eulalia, 20 km east in the municipality of Aquiles Serdán, is the silver camp whose ore paid for the founding of the city in 1709 and is still mined. The Grutas Nombre de Dios, a limestone cave system on the north-east edge of town, is open to visitors. Cuauhtémoc, 105 km west on Highway 16, is the market town of a Mennonite farming colony settled from Canada in 1922 and known for its cheese. Paquimé, the adobe city at Casas Grandes about 320 km north-west, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the largest pre-Hispanic settlement in northern Mexico. The wider state of Chihuahua covers 247,455 km², more than any other.
The Chepe and the Copper Canyon
The Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico runs 653 km from the city to Los Mochis on the Gulf of California, crossing the Barrancas del Cobre — six linked canyons, several of them deeper than the Grand Canyon — on 37 bridges and through 86 tunnels, and topping 2,400 m on the divide. It took most of a century to build and opened in 1961. The tourist Chepe Express covers the western half between Los Mochis and Creel; a cheaper regional service works the full line, and timetables change, so check before planning a trip around it. Creel, at about 2,340 m, is the road and rail base for the canyon rim and the Rarámuri (Tarahumara) settlements around it. See the Sierra Madre map and the Mexican road map for the routes across the range.
Questions about Chihuahua
Where is Chihuahua on the map of Mexico?
In the north of the country, in the centre-east of Chihuahua state, 375 km south of Ciudad Juárez and the Texas border and about 1,430 km north of Mexico City. The city sits at 28.63° N on the eastern edge of the Sierra Madre Occidental.
How do you get to the Copper Canyon from Chihuahua?
Either on the Chihuahua al Pacífico railway (the Chepe), which starts in the city, or by road: Highway 16 and MX-127 reach Creel, the usual canyon base, in about 4 hours over 260 km. Divisadero, the main rim viewpoint, is an hour beyond Creel.
Is Chihuahua safe to visit?
The US State Department has kept Chihuahua state at a raised advisory level for years and restricts where US government employees may travel in parts of it; the capital's centre, the Cuauhtémoc road and the Chepe corridor are heavily used by visitors. Read the current State Department advisory before travelling.
What time zone is Chihuahua in?
Central time, UTC−6, with no daylight saving. The state moved off Mountain time in October 2022 when Mexico abolished summer time; the border municipalities, including Ciudad Juárez, kept UTC−7 and still follow US daylight saving so their clocks match El Paso.