90 Beautiful Photos of Real De Catorce, A Tiny Mining Village In The Mountains of Mexico

Dec 25, 2020 • By Leonidas K. • 11 min read

Mexico Travel

Real De Catorce, San Luis Potosi, Mexico

My main reason for going to Real De Catorce (“Royal Fourteen”) deep in the mountains of Mexico was to get some of that mystical Peyote plant. The Peyote plant allows you to hallucinate, and to experience another part of your emotional and logical circuitry, perhaps discovering something about yourself and subconscious that is typically blocked by our egos.

Long story short, I did make it Real De Catorce, but before that, I already had second-thoughts (basically said I didn’t want to) about Peyote, and decided this was just going to be a photography adventure, rather than a hallucinatory exploration.

A long time ago, a flourishing silver mining town, it was abandoned after silver prices collapsed. Tourism eventually picked up due to its indigenous pilgrimages, and the government declaring Real De Catorce as a “Pueblo Magico” or “Magical Town”.

For a much deeper explanation of this town, check out the Real De Catorce Wikipedia.

Getting To Real De Catorce From Mexico City

This entire journey took well over 10-12 hours from start to finish.

I took an Uber from my apartment in Mexico City to the Northern Bus Station in Mexico City (about $5 usd)
From there, I bought a ticket to Matehuala in San Luis Potosi state (about $50 usd)
- this part has a brief stop-over in 1 or 2 towns, as well as a stop over in San Luis Potosi City
Once in Matehuala, I took a cash taxi to the Real De Catorce mini bus stop (about $3 usd)
From the Mini Bus Stop, you take a caravan of about 12 people to Real De Catorce (about $4 usd)

By the time I arrived in Real De Catorce, it was already in the evening, and I only had a few hours left of sunlight.

Walking Around Real De Catorce

Upon arrival, you can instantly tell that Real de Catorce is extremely small, but my first task was to check into my hotel.

Hacienda Encantada Hotel in Real De Catorce

Looking at the center of Real de catorce from the rooftop of my hotel

The various trinkets and souvenirs for sale in Real de Catorce

Selling some delicious pizza in “Real de Catorce”

Tourists shops around in Real de Catorce

The Mexican Flag colours, and the Real de Catorce church on the right

You may notice they also sell winter attire, because it does get cold at night in the mountains

Walking down the main street “Constitucion” in Real De Catorce

Peyoconcha or Peyopan for sale. Bread that looks like “Peyote”. I didn’t buy any because it’s probably not vegan

Delicious bread representing the sacred cactus of the “Catorce” desert

Iglesia de Real De Catorce (Church) in the center of town

Typical “Dream Catchers”, which became popular in the 1980’s. These are even in Canada.

A massive skull, probably for celebrating “Dia de los muertos” or day of the dead

Reconstruction and renovations in Real De Catorce

This street has been redone for future tourism.

A restaurant with its doors shut due to the pandemic

Flanked on all sides with traditional stone-masonry architecture

Exiting the center of town on foot, yet looking back at the town

At the top of one side of town, is a villa under construction, overlooking the sunset

Walking down the archaic streets of real de catorce

Kids play up the streets as the sun sets

Real De Catorce overlooking Real De Catorce ;) — Real De Catorce overlooking Real De Catorce 😉

The unfinished dirt roads of real de catorce

Probably more of the traditional street style

A classic jeep stands idly in the streets

Overlooking the cascades of Real De Catorce

An image of a Real de Catorce from a time long ago

At night, the streets are painted with traditional yellow light bulbs

Day 2 in Real De Catorce

Due to the lack of wifi, or a good mobile signal here (I was using AT&T, but apparently other providers work fine), I decided to end my trip after only one evening.

But first, I was committed to visiting the “Ghost Town” a bit further up the hillside.

Way up on the hill in the middle, is the “Ghost Town”

Gradually walking up the hill to the ghost town

Horses are still actively used for labour and transportation in Mexico

Overlooking Real De Catorce from the other side

The background fades into a bluish colour that looks like the ocean

Ghost Town in the Hills

Further up in the hills are the ruins of a Real De Catorce that was abandoned once the price of silver collapsed.

The old town of Real de Catorce, The Ghost Town

A horse stands by for its next destination

Horses are actively used for tourism and transportation up the hillsides.

A Friendly Gesture

While exploring the ruins, I was approached for friendly chitchat by the dude on the left. After some back and forth, he asked if I could lend my camera to their photographer whose battery stopped working for no particular reason.

I lent my camera, and was later informed that the girl (second from the left) is a famous Mexican actress, and by lending my camera, I had ‘saved her skin’ from a total mess-up that day.

Nonetheless, they needed the photos, so they offered a horse to bring me down as well. This was the first time I had ever ridden a horse in my life 🙂

Riding through the streets like a real cowboy

Thank you horse (I think his/her name was ‘amor’ or Love)

Upon arriving back to Real, we took a ‘camioneta’ or pickup truck back through the mountains

Upon getting to the other side, the strangers offered me a ride back to the city

Conclusion

The friendly strangers offered me a ride from Real De Catorce all the way back to San Luis Potosi (this saved me about 2 hours of travel).

From San Luis Potosi, I grabbed the first uber I could get to the bus station, and took a bus back to Mexico City, and then back to my apartment.

Overall, was this trip worth it? In some ways, it was interesting, in other ways, I wouldn’t repeat it because you need to juggle so many modes of transportation to get there.

Overall, the town is interesting to visit, and perhaps do some Peyote (which I skipped).