Geography
Hidalgo covers 20,821 km² and is divided into 84 municipalities, a high count for its size. It is small but crosses three different countries in geographic terms. The west is the Valle del Mezquital, a semi-arid basin at 1,700–2,100 m where rainfall is under 500 mm a year and agriculture depends on irrigation; the centre and south are volcanic highlands running up to the Sierra de Pachuca, where the highest ground in the state reaches about 3,200 m; and the north-east drops off the Sierra Madre Oriental into the Huasteca, humid tropical lowlands under 500 m that receive more than 2,000 mm of rain.
The break between those zones is abrupt. The Barranca de Metztitlán, protected as a biosphere reserve since 2000 and covering about 96,000 hectares, is a canyon more than 600 m deep filled with columnar cacti and closed at its lower end by the Laguna de Metztitlán. North of it the Río Amajac and the Río Moctezuma cut down towards the Pánuco and the Gulf. On the southern edge, near Huasca de Ocampo, the Prismas Basálticos stand in the Santa María Regla gorge — basalt columns up to about 40 m high that Humboldt described in 1803. Drainage from the Valley of Mexico has been diverted into the Tula river basin since the colonial Tajo de Nochistongo, and the Túnel Emisor Oriente, opened in 2019, still discharges there.
Main cities
Pachuca sits at 2,432 m in a wind funnel between the hills, which is where its nickname La Bella Airosa comes from. Silver has been mined in the surrounding sierra since 1552, and it was at Pachuca in 1555 that Bartolomé de Medina worked out the patio amalgamation process that made low-grade silver ore profitable across the Americas. Cornish miners arrived at nearby Real del Monte in 1824 and left behind the pastes sold on every corner of the state and Club Pachuca, founded in 1901 and the oldest football club in Mexico. Tula, in the south-west, was the Toltec capital of Tollan between about 900 and 1150 and its pyramid is topped by Atlantean warrior columns roughly 4.6 m tall; the modern town holds one of the six Pemex refineries and a large power station. Tizayuca, on the road to Mexico City, is the one Hidalgo municipality counted inside the Mexico City metropolitan area.
| Municipality | Population (2020) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Pachuca de Soto | 314,331 | Capital, 2,432 m, silver mining |
| Tulancingo de Bravo | 168,302 | Second city, textiles and dairy |
| Tizayuca | about 168,000 | Mexico City metropolitan area |
| Huejutla de Reyes | 129,948 | Main town of the Huasteca |
| Mineral de la Reforma | about 227,000 | Suburb of Pachuca, fastest growth |
| Tula de Allende | 115,107 | Toltec site, refinery, cement |
| Ixmiquilpan | about 98,700 | Mezquital Valley, Otomí centre |
| Tepeji del Río | about 92,000 | On the Arco Norte toll road |
| Actopan | about 63,000 | 16th-century Augustinian convent |
| Zimapán | about 39,000 | Mining town, Moctezuma canyon dam |
Neighbouring states
Hidalgo has six neighbours and no coast. San Luis Potosí lies to the north across the Huasteca; Veracruz takes the long eastern border, following the fall of the sierra; Puebla and Tlaxcala meet it in the south-east around Tulancingo and Apan; State of Mexico runs along the south and south-west, where the two urban areas are merging around Tizayuca; and Querétaro closes the western end near Zimapán and the Río Moctezuma. Hidalgo is counted as part of Central Mexico, and its north-eastern municipalities belong culturally to the Huasteca shared with San Luis Potosí and Veracruz.
Getting there
There is no significant commercial airport in the state: Pachuca has the small Ingeniero Juan Guillermo Villasana field (PCA), used for general aviation and flight training, and passengers use Felipe Ángeles (NLU), about 50 km south-west, or Mexico City (MEX), about 110 km from Pachuca.
By road, MX-85D is the fast toll route from Mexico City to Pachuca — 95 km and about 1 hour 30 minutes — continuing as free MX-85 north through Zimapán and on towards Ciudad Victoria and Nuevo Laredo. MX-105 climbs from Pachuca over the sierra to Huejutla and the Huasteca, about 4 hours 30 minutes for 220 km. MX-130 links Pachuca to Tulancingo and continues east towards Poza Rica in Veracruz. The Arco Norte toll road crosses the south of the state near Tula and Tepeji, connecting Puebla to Querétaro without entering the Mexico City ring. See the road map, the airports map and the archaeological sites map.
Questions about Hidalgo
Where is Hidalgo on the map of Mexico?
Immediately north-east of Mexico City — the capital Pachuca is only 95 km from the Zócalo. The state is landlocked and borders San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Puebla, Tlaxcala, State of Mexico and Querétaro.
What is the Huasteca Hidalguense?
The north-eastern lowlands of the state, below about 500 m, around Huejutla de Reyes. It is humid tropical country with more than 2,000 mm of rain a year and a large Nahuatl-speaking population, and it is reached from Pachuca by MX-105 over the Sierra Madre Oriental.
What are the Prismas Basálticos?
Columns of basalt up to about 40 m high in the Santa María Regla gorge near Huasca de Ocampo, formed as a lava flow cooled and cracked. Alexander von Humboldt described them in 1803. Huasca de Ocampo was the first town designated a Pueblo Mágico, in 2001.
Which airport do you use for Pachuca?
Pachuca has only the small Ingeniero Juan Guillermo Villasana airport (PCA), used mainly for general aviation. Most travellers fly into Felipe Ángeles (NLU), about 50 km south-west in the State of Mexico, or Mexico City (MEX), about 110 km away.