The area was mostly uninhabited before European arrival. Once Spaniards began forming ranches on the plains of Chihuahua the Raramuri began moving back into the canyons. The almost militant Jesuits soon followed. The Jesuits were forced out of Mexico after the Spanish crown discovered they were smuggling gold back to Europe; leaving the Raramuri in peace. Franciscans replaced the Jesuits throughout much of Mexico but never succeeded in penetrating the Sierra Tarahumara. Today there are a few Jesuit missionaries back in the area. The lack of any church leadership in the area for hundreds of years resulted in the hybrid Christian-traditional religious beliefs that the Raramuri exhibit today.
Although many spots are available for sightseeing, most visitors will go to Divisadero. This town has two train stops, Divisadero and Posada.
Very little scientific study has been done on the wildflowers since the late 1800s and early 1900s until recently. A visitor to the Copper Canyon region in 2004 saw many beautiful flowers but discovered that no field guide had ever been written for the Copper Canyon so she decided to write one. After three more trips to do the research, she found a botanist to work with her who then identified the plants and a professor from a university in Chihuahua translated the text into Spanish so the guide would be bilingual. In July 2009 the first ever [url=http://www.coppercanyonwildflowers.com]Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Mexico’s Copper Canyon Region by Linda J. Ford[/url] was published. She created a very user friendly guide so when the casual visitor is touring the canyon in the months of September and October when the wildflowers are in bloom, he or she will have the opportunity to identify over 140 different species of wildflowers.
The most comfortable time to go is early spring to early summer and late summer to late fall.
Because of the difference in elevation from over 8,000 feet at the high plateau and canyon rims to the bottom of the canyons at 1,800 feet, four very distinct climate zones with a wide variety of vegetation have resulted.
In the highlands is the Madrean Conifer Forest with fir, pines, Douglas fir, and red Madroño trees. Going down in elevation, there is the Pine-Oak Woodland with pine, live oak, and agave. Continuing down, next comes the Arid-Tropical Deciduous Thorn Forest with scrub oak, mesquite, and cardon. The last zone located at the bottom of the canyons is the Tropical-Subtropical Riparian Forest that has fig, sycamore, ceibas, grasses, reeds, and palms.
During the winter months, the temperature can drop below freezing at the rim of the canyon while down in the canyon, the climate is subtropical. During the summer months, afternoon rains often occur. As a result of these rains, the streams and waterfalls begin to flow and the vegetation including wildflowers come to life in late August, September, and early October. In addition to abundant wildflowers in the fall, the temperatures are also more moderate at the rim as well as in the canyon that time of year.
The nearest airport to Copper Canyon is located in Chihuahua city (CUU). There are daily flights from Dallas to Chihuahua by American Airlines. There are daily flights to Chihuahua from Mexico City, Cancun, Guadalajara and Monterrey. An airport is being constructed in Creel and it is expected to start operations in 2014. The visitor can also consider flying to Los Mochis, in Sinaloa state, but there are fewer frequencies and connections.
The Chihuahua al Pacífico Railroad, known as El Chepe, is a rail line that runs from the Pacific coast at [wiki=0b693c8023f956ad2f5bd8cbf5e3f83a]Los Mochis[/wiki] to the city of [wiki=4ab02eb42d91b8e97216863c820a553b]Chihuahua[/wiki], passing through the canyonlands. While the train ride is lauded as one of the most spectacular in the world, the reality is that the really scenic parts of the journey are between [wiki=db8f60e91841dad5b8e0d1c87fe2599b]El Fuerte[/wiki] and [wiki=6ac4ce755313923a10a9ee15eaaf57a6]Creel[/wiki], especially between El Fuerte and Bahucivo where the train rapidly ascends many thousands of feet. The route from Los Mochis headed eastwards is more scenic because the westward train often passes through the most scenic areas after nightfall. This is really only an issue in the winter when days are short or if the 2nd class train is running way behind schedule. Regardless, neither direction offers direct views of the canyon itself. First and second class cars ride in the same train, with some stations reserved for 2nd class passengers only. First class is mostly for foreign tourists and costs twice the rate of 2nd class, but allows you to hop on and off, whereas 2nd class tickets must be entirely used up in one day. 1st class tickets should be purchased in advance through a travel agency to avoid disappointment, while 2nd class tickets can be purchased on the train from the conductor.
As of February 2014, there are daily departures from Chihuahua bound to Los Mochis at 6:00 A.M. and another train departs simultaneously on the opposite way from Los Mochis bound to Chihuahua at 6:00.
Copper Canyon is well served by bus service. From the U.S., you can ride from[wiki=1b75f7197aac9bde82a11e7020169923]El Paso[/wiki]-[wiki=f77e4c9919ad12dd8de11a59f9dbbad0]Juarez[/wiki] to [wiki=4ab02eb42d91b8e97216863c820a553b]Chihuahua[/wiki] ($25USD) and from [wiki=951c4265d398fe0b2b6bbb7bbd074f42]Ojinaga[/wiki]-[wiki=5f134a9e349561b96e00b7d97f425697]Presidio[/wiki] to Chihuahua ($12USD) regularly. Buses from Transportes Turísticos Noroeste run from Chihuahua all the way to Divisadero, stopping in Creel and other smaller towns such as Cuauhtémoc and San Juanito.
If you have your own private vehicle driving on the Mexican toll roads is very easy, and corruption appears to be a minor issue in Chihuahua outside of the Juarez area. The road to Copper Canyon reaches Divisadero, passing through Cuauhtémoc, San Juanito, Creel and other minor towns.
There is literally a maze of Raramuri trails running through the area. They run in all different directions, are unsigned and seem to have no concept of grade or steepness. Hiring a guide is a good idea. Someday perhaps an ambitious volunteer will try to make some kind of signage and map system for all the trails. Right now, well, it's an adventure.
There is a start on a marked trail in the area. It is called the "Camino del Cobre" [url=http://caminodelcobre.org]](Spanish for Copper Trail). Currently it goes from Creel almost to Pitorreal paralleling the road and railroad.
Hiring a guide, particularly for multi-day hiking tours is a good idea in this region due to safety concerns (see more below) as well as orientation. Trekking and Custom tours: Adventure Life, [http://www.adventure-life.com/tours/mexico-tours/[/url]
Bus tours: S&S Tours, [url=http://ss-tours.com/],]Caravan, [http://www.caravan.com/tour/mexico-copper-canyon[/url]
There are dedicated campgrounds in [wiki=6ac4ce755313923a10a9ee15eaaf57a6]Creel[/wiki] and Urique, most other places you can camp wherever you find an unoccupied sandbar. Oftentimes the best option is to go up to a rancher or farmers house and ask permission perhaps offering a small payment. This gives you a little extra protection from theft or harassment.