Tolantongo

In his book "Lo que el viento nos dejo: hojas de terruño hidalguense", journalist Enrique Rivas Paniagua gives the etymology of Tolantongo a very deep look: "... the neighboring towns called it Tonaltongo (derivation of Tonaltonko), ... but in 1975 when this eden was discovered and was promoted by the magazine "Mexico Desconocido" the name was misspelled and that is how it "officially" got the name Tolantongo."

The resort is made up of three hotel complexes and heated pools near the bottom of a steep box canyon[7] that has walls as much as 500 meters high.

Around these two openings, warm waterfalls flow down the steep canyon walls[7] Here visitors can practice hiking, rappelling and spelunking.

[1] The resort is located in a semi-desert zone, surrounded by rock formations carved by water flow and geological pressures.

), tall cacti called “viejitos” (little old ones) (Cephalocereus senilis), named so because their upper spines whiten and flatten, creating a grey-hair-like look, gumbo-limbos (Bursera simaruba), poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) as well as the abundant magueys that have been used for centuries to make pulque, a fermented beverage.

Animals that can be seen include raccoons (Procyon lotor), greater roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus), hooded skunks (Mephitis macroura), white-nosed coatis (Nasua narica) and white-winged doves (Zenaida asiatica).

At the bottom of the canyon, the vegetation changes from semi-desert to semi-tropical due to the abundance of water and the humid warmth the river and falls give to the place.

[5] The beauty of the area enticed a Mexican soap opera or “telenovela” to shoot a number of romantic scenes here.

It is possible to rappel from the various high domes in these two grottos, but it is still considered dangerous because of the wet walls and large amounts of water vapor in the air.

[3] On various sections of the canyon walls are man-made semi-circular “chapoteaderos” or splashing pools, created by damming small warm springs.

This association was formed 30 years ago by the 112 families that own the ejido (a type of communal property) (Bowman), called San Cristobal.

[7][4] While today the park and resort are well-run and tranquil, the enterprise had problems with drugs, violence and vandalism when it first began.

Working with local authorities, they created barriers to control access and gained permission to carry firearms as deputies to patrol ejido land.