Tolantongo

Tolantongo is a box canyon and resort located 17 kilometres from Ixmiquilpan on Route 27 in the Mezquital Valley, State of Hidalgo in Mexico, It is about 1.5 hours northwest of Pachuca and 198 km or three-to-four hours northwest of Mexico City. The closest village to the resort is called El Cardonal and it is part of Cardonal Municipality.

Etymology

From the Nahuatl Tonaltonko (Home where it feels warm). In his book "Lo que el viento nos dejo: hojas de terruno 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."

Resort

The resort is made up of three hotel complexes and heated pools near the bottom of a steep box canyon that has walls as much as 500 meters high. Its main attraction are two grottos at the canyon’s closed end, out of which flows a small volcanically-heated river which follows the canyon floor. The large grotto chamber is about half the size of a tennis court with a ceiling of up to ten metres. Above the grotto is a “tunnel”, a small cavern 15 metres deep in which warm water showers those who venture inside. Around these two openings, warm waterfalls flow down the steep canyon walls Here visitors can practice hiking, rappelling and spelunking.

Ecological zone

The resort is located in a semi-desert zone, surrounded by rock formations carved by water flow and geological pressures. Exposed rock shows sedimentary layers that have folded. This and water erosion have created capricious forms that are all around this part of Hidalgo state. The high peaks in this area are often shrouded in mist. Cacti and semi-arid vegetation predominate in the hills above the canyon, with pine trees at the higher elevations. The rugged peaks have a great deal of biological diversity. Among the plant species to be found are yucca (Yucca spp), mesquite (Prosopis spp.), tall cacti called...