Cave Paintings

A unique experience travelers can enjoy along Ruta 1 is by visiting the cave paintings in the San Francisco Sierra inside El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve.

The San Francisco Sierra holds a large number of cave paintings however to reach some of them, visitors need more time, some level of technical experience and special permits. The difficult access to some places and the dry weather have preserved, remarkably well, the cave paintings, which have been declared World Heritage sites by the UNESCO for their important cultural legacy.

Several caves make up the area with the largest painting murals: La Pintada, Las Flechas, Los Musicos, Cuesta Palmerito, La Soledad, Boca San Julio and El Raton, this last one being the most visited of all.

The cave paintings represent human beings, diverse marine and land animals and the relationship between humans and their environment.  These cave paintings are unique testimony of this artistic genre for its composition, dimensions, precision of its lines and color diversity.

To visit the cave paintings visitors can arrive to San Francisco de la Sierra where a local guide will be assigned to take them to the are where the closer paintings are; or in case visitors want to do a multi-day expedition to find the cave paintings deeper in the sierra, they will need to make a reservation in advance.
In the town of San Ignacio visitors can find tour operators that can take them to the cave paintings and visit the INAH´s San Ignacio Cave Paintings Museum which has a replica of one of the caves.