Top 10 Mexican National Parks

Mexico's first national park, established in 1935, protects the two highest peaks in Mexico — the still-active volcano Popocatépetl (5,452m) and the glaciated Iztaccíhuatl (5,286m) — whose classic silhouettes are visible from Mexico City on clear days. The Iztaccíhuatl summit circuit through permanent snow and the Paso de Cortés between the two volcanoes are among the most dramatic high-altitude hiking experiences in Latin America.

The national park surrounding the Maya ruins of Palenque in Chiapas protects a critical section of the Lacandon jungle — Mexico's last large lowland tropical forest — within which howler monkeys, toucans, and spider monkeys provide a living soundtrack to the ancient temples. The Misol-Ha and Agua Azul waterfalls within the park's buffer zone are the most visited natural features in Chiapas.

Mexico's highest peak at 5,636 metres — the third-highest in North America — rises above Veracruz and Puebla states as a permanently snow-capped volcanic cone whose summit is reached via glacier crossing by hundreds of mountaineers each winter season. The Jamapa Glacier, though retreating due to climate change, remains the most accessible permanent ice field in Mexico.

A mountain reserve in Tamaulipas that contains the northernmost extension of the neotropical humid forest and the overlap zone where North American temperate species meet Central American tropical ones — creating a biodiversity interface found nowhere else in Mexico. The cloud forest section above 1,200 metres produces the finest bird diversity count in northeastern Mexico, including the rare azure-crowned hummingbird.

The dormant Nevado de Colima volcano (4,339m) and the active Volcán de Fuego alongside it create Mexico's most dramatic active volcanic landscape, with the Fuego producing regular ash plumes and lava flows visible from the surrounding bajío. The hiking circuit on the Nevado's upper slopes through pine-fir forest and across volcanic rock fields to the summit crater offers the finest above-treeline hiking in western Mexico.

The 1,000-metre gorge of the Rio Grijalva in Chiapas protects a canyon ecosystem of dry tropical forest, cave-nesting colonies of swifts, and riparian habitats supporting crocodiles and tapirs within the canyon depths. The canyon walls contain a Christmas Tree Cave — a section where constant seepage creates a green algae formation that resembles a decorated tree — visible from the boat tours that traverse the canyon.

A Chiapas highland park protecting 59 interconnected lakes whose dissolved minerals create water of every color from cerulean blue to green and turquoise — the rainbow lakes of Mexico. The park borders Guatemala and contains remnants of Maya settlement and ancient ceiba trees sacred to indigenous Tzeltal communities who continue traditional ceremonies at the lake shores.

The central desert of Baja California Norte protects the world's largest population of the boojum tree (cirio) — Mexico's most bizarre endemic plant, which grows as an inverted carrot shape to 18 metres and can live 700 years — alongside cardón cacti taller than 20 metres in a landscape that appears to be from another planet. The Baja 1000 off-road race passes through this reserve, creating Mexico's most extreme intersection of natural heritage and motorsport culture.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest protected area in Latin America at 2.5 million hectares, El Vizcaíno's San Ignacio and Scammon's lagoons are the world's most important gray whale breeding grounds where thousands of whales calve between January and April. The whale-watching experience from small pangas where mothers bring their calves alongside to be touched is considered the finest cetacean encounter available anywhere in the world.

Mexico's first national park, established in 1935, protects the two highest peaks in Mexico — the still-active volcano Popocatépetl (5,452m) and the glaciated Iztaccíhuatl (5,286m) — whose classic silhouettes are visible from Mexico City on clear days. The Iztaccíhuatl summit circuit through permanent snow and the Paso de Cortés between the two volcanoes are among the most dramatic high-altitude hiking experiences in Latin America.

The national park surrounding the Maya ruins of Palenque in Chiapas protects a critical section of the Lacandon jungle — Mexico's last large lowland tropical forest — within which howler monkeys, toucans, and spider monkeys provide a living soundtrack to the ancient temples. The Misol-Ha and Agua Azul waterfalls within the park's buffer zone are the most visited natural features in Chiapas.

Mexico's highest peak at 5,636 metres — the third-highest in North America — rises above Veracruz and Puebla states as a permanently snow-capped volcanic cone whose summit is reached via glacier crossing by hundreds of mountaineers each winter season. The Jamapa Glacier, though retreating due to climate change, remains the most accessible permanent ice field in Mexico.

A mountain reserve in Tamaulipas that contains the northernmost extension of the neotropical humid forest and the overlap zone where North American temperate species meet Central American tropical ones — creating a biodiversity interface found nowhere else in Mexico. The cloud forest section above 1,200 metres produces the finest bird diversity count in northeastern Mexico, including the rare azure-crowned hummingbird.

The dormant Nevado de Colima volcano (4,339m) and the active Volcán de Fuego alongside it create Mexico's most dramatic active volcanic landscape, with the Fuego producing regular ash plumes and lava flows visible from the surrounding bajío. The hiking circuit on the Nevado's upper slopes through pine-fir forest and across volcanic rock fields to the summit crater offers the finest above-treeline hiking in western Mexico.

The 1,000-metre gorge of the Rio Grijalva in Chiapas protects a canyon ecosystem of dry tropical forest, cave-nesting colonies of swifts, and riparian habitats supporting crocodiles and tapirs within the canyon depths. The canyon walls contain a Christmas Tree Cave — a section where constant seepage creates a green algae formation that resembles a decorated tree — visible from the boat tours that traverse the canyon.

A Chiapas highland park protecting 59 interconnected lakes whose dissolved minerals create water of every color from cerulean blue to green and turquoise — the rainbow lakes of Mexico. The park borders Guatemala and contains remnants of Maya settlement and ancient ceiba trees sacred to indigenous Tzeltal communities who continue traditional ceremonies at the lake shores.

The central desert of Baja California Norte protects the world's largest population of the boojum tree (cirio) — Mexico's most bizarre endemic plant, which grows as an inverted carrot shape to 18 metres and can live 700 years — alongside cardón cacti taller than 20 metres in a landscape that appears to be from another planet. The Baja 1000 off-road race passes through this reserve, creating Mexico's most extreme intersection of natural heritage and motorsport culture.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest protected area in Latin America at 2.5 million hectares, El Vizcaíno's San Ignacio and Scammon's lagoons are the world's most important gray whale breeding grounds where thousands of whales calve between January and April. The whale-watching experience from small pangas where mothers bring their calves alongside to be touched is considered the finest cetacean encounter available anywhere in the world.