Inner courtyard of Palacio Municipal – El Fuerte – Mexico

All About El Fuerte – Mexico

El Fuerte is a small colonial Spanish-built town in northern Sinaloa state, which is situated in Mexico’s far northwest. El Fuerte is just south of the border with Sonora state and about 1-1 ½ hours northeast of the Pacific Coast at Los Mochis city.

As its name implies, El Fuerte, does indeed have a small stone fort situated on top of a small hillock overlooking the placid Rio Fuerte (river). The hill is ideally located at a 90 degree bend in the river, providing the perfect spot for a fort, as guards can look down the river for many miles in both directions.

Nowadays the fort provides amazing 360° views over the town, river and distant mountains in all directions. It also houses an interesting museum detailing the history and culture of native Indians in the region.

view of Rio Fuerte from the fort – EL Fuerte

Like most other colonial towns and cities in Mexico, El Fuerte was built on the proceeds of nearby silver mines. This town, along with Alamos, Sonora, situated a couple hours north, is unique in that it’s quite far north for one of MExico’s colonial town. Most are situated in the vast central highlands extending west from Mexico City.

Today El Fuerte has just a small, compact but very well-preserved historic center that’s set around its large, leafy main plaza. The historic heart extends only a couple blocks in any direction from there, but contains several quite grand, beautifully-renovated colonial buildings. It’s clear from their sheer size and grandeur that El Fuerte once was a very wealthy city.

Palacio Municipal – El Fuerte

Most impressive is the huge Palacio Municipal (Municipal Palace, aka town hall) with a sand-blasted brick exterior and a massive inner courtyard surrounded by two stories of open-air hallways with pink walls and dozens of white columns. Several large hand-painted murals adorn parts of the walls.

The main cathedral is just across the street, featuring a tall wooden bell tower, which is quite unusual in Mexico as they’re normally built of stone. Other colorful grand two and three-story buildings line the other sides of the plaza, now housing restaurants, cafes, a cultural center and a few shops.

Across from the Palacio and church is a famous historic hotel, Posada del Hidalgo, that takes up an entire block and consists of three adjacent grand historic homes, plus courtyards and gardens. But I’ll get to that in a minute… On the other side of the hotel is the fort-topped hill and the river below.

Hotel Posada del Hidalgo – El Fuerte

Although El Fuerte’s historic heart is small, it’s certainly worth a half day or day-long visit.

However, more than its fort and pretty colonial center, El Fuerte is considerably more renowned for two other claims to fame. And these are the real reasons to visit El Fuerte.

First off, El Fuerte is the birthplace of the legendary bandit/hero El Zorro! The aforementioned hotel, Posada del Hidalgo, contains the family home of El Zorro, one of the three great houses that make up the hotel property.

statue of El Zorro at Posada del Hidalgo Hotel

In fact, the hotel is really the only place in town celebrating the famous robber/hero. The hotel features a life-size statue of El Zorro on horseback in one courtyard garden, informative plaques about the hero and their ‘El Zorro Room’, one of the guest rooms.

It’s the room in his family home where he was supposedly born. The room is decorated with framed photos and paintings from the movie of El Zorro. Fun!

El Fuerte’s second claim to fame, and the reason almost everyone visits, is that the town is a major jumping on/off point for the famous Copper Canyon Train, named El Chepe. The train’s western-most terminal is actually in Los Mochis city, 1 – 1 ½ hours west of El Fuerte. And many travelers do board or depart El Chepe in Los Mochis.

El Chepe Train Station – el Fuerte – Sinaloa

However, there are several reasons to start or end the great train journey in El Fuerte instead. First of all, Los Mochis is a big, modern city with no real points of interest or beauty. It does have a major ferry terminal to/from Baja Peninsula, but otherwise, there’s no reason to stay in Los Mochis.

It’s much nicer to spend a day or two in El Fuerte to enjoy the historic buildings, fort/museum, river views and dedications to El Zorro. Travelers with a higher budget could even stay at glamorous Posada del Hidalgo.

Secondly, El Chepe takes about 2 ½ – 3 hours to travel between Los Mochis and El Fuerte, entirely through flat unremarkable scenery. The train doesn’t actually reach canyons until about 1 ½ hours after El Fuerte.

El Chepe traveling through Copper Canyon

In addition, the train fare is considerably higher if starting/ending in Los Mochis than in El Fuerte. On the other hand, buses between the two cities take 1 ½ hours and cost a meager 60 ps / $2.50 US. By taking the bus, visitors save both time and money.

I visited El Fuerte for 1 ½ days before boarding El Chepe for my delightful journey into Copper Canyon. That was just about the right amount of time. I arrived on a Sunday evening and strolled around the town center.

Monday I had a full day in town, so I explored the town center more thoroughly, visited the fort/museum and enjoyed the fantastic panoramic views from the top. Then I visited Posada del Hidalgo and learned all about El Zorro. I relaxed at a plaza-side cafe and then prepared for my train journey.

stunning view inside Copper Canyon from El Chepe Train

I did also have to visit Posada del Hidalgo for a hotel review that afternoon, so I got a thorough tour of the many courtyards, gardens and colonial houses filled with all sorts of historic rooms. I even got to see the famous El Zorro Room.

Then they graciously served me a gourmet lunch of river lobster, sauteed vegetables, fresh homemade rolls and fried plantains in rum sauce for dessert.

I highly recommends staying and/or dining there if it fits within your budget.

Regardless, El Fuerte is a great little town to visit for a couple days either before or after a trip on El Chepe through the Copper Canyon. Even if you’re not going through the canyon for some reason, El Fuerte is worth visiting if you’re otherwise passing through the area, perhaps to/from Baja Peninsula or to/from the US border north in Sonora.

So if you’re eager to visit Mexico and wondering about the visa options, according to NatVisa, the Tourist Card application process is extremely easy and should be applied for online.

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Gorgeous Colonial Alamos – Sonora

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Budget Travel in Sonora

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