Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
Mexico is boiling underneath. We show you how to explore it.
A thousand kilometres of fractured crust, from Nayarit to Veracruz, where rainwater sinks four kilometres down, heats past 200 °C and comes back up as a 95 °C geyser or a turquoise pool at body temperature.
- 33
- surveyed sites
- 9
- states
- 6
- geothermal provinces
- 95 °C
- hottest vent
Six geothermal corridors
The survey groups into six provinces, each with its own geological signature: from the stretching grabens of Jalisco to the travertine canyons of Hidalgo.
- Province 1
Tectonic West
The Chapala graben and La Primavera caldera, where the crust is pulling apart
3 sites · 37 °C on average
- Province 2
Los Azufres and Ixtlán
Mexico's greatest geothermal energy: fumaroles, boiling mud and geysers in high-altitude forest
4 sites · 51 °C on average
- Province 3
South-Central Hydrothermal Trough
Sulfurous waters fed by the fault ring around Popocatépetl
5 sites · 34 °C on average
- Province 4
Bajío Calderas and Grabens
Deep faults in semi-arid valleys feeding restful hot springs
4 sites · 38 °C on average
- Province 5
Mezquital Valley
Mexico's densest thermal corridor: from a 95 °C vent to a plain full of pools
10 sites · 44 °C on average
- Province 6
Karst Canyon Systems
Springs emerging at canyon floors, depositing turquoise travertine
7 sites · 38 °C on average
Five ways to travel it
Routes built to actually be driven, with the long leg on a day of its own, and a builder for making yours from the 33 sites.
Or build your ownCommon questions
- Where are the hot springs in Mexico?
- This guide lists 33 places in 9 states: Estado de México, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Puebla, Querétaro, Veracruz. They sit on the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The map shows all of them.
- Which hot springs are near Mexico City?
- In this guide, the closest are in Hidalgo (16 places, including Grutas Tolantongo and the Mezquital Valley) and in the State of Mexico (2).
- How hot is the water?
- Each profile keeps bathing water apart from the vent. The hottest vent in the survey is El Géiser, at 95 °C. The temperature you soak in is on the profile and in the map color.
- Are there hot springs with a hotel?
- 21 of the 33 places have lodging on site. Each profile says so.