Bikepacking Routes

High above the city of Oaxaca and set within the lush and biodiverse Sierra Norte, the Pueblos Mancomunados alliance of villages offers an impressive eco-tourism infrastructure complete with camping areas, rustic cabañas, marked trails, and local guiding services - be it for mountain biking, mushroom foraging, or learning about regional flora. Using low-traffic dirt and paved roads, Vuelta A Los Pueblos Mancomunados connects a number of these small settlements, via the prehistoric caves of the fertile Mitla Valley, the Zapotec archeological site of Yagul, and the traditional textile hub of Teotitlán...

Looping out from Oaxaca's city centre to the mountainside settlement of San Pablo Quatro Venados, this dirt road overnighter uses a community-run eco-centre as its midway point, where camping, adobe-brick cabañas, and local fare are available. Bookended by the Zapotec archeological sites of Monte Alban and Atzompa and fluctuating between 1500m on the valley floor and 2800m in the Sierra Madre Sur, it's a dirt road route rich in history and biodiversity...

Complementing a growing body of shorter routes in the area, Meandros en Mitla is a three-day ramble through Oaxaca's Valles Centralles, connecting a series of dirt roads and trails between Oaxaca de Juárez and Hierve el Agua, a natural, waterfall-like rock pool formation with far-reaching views of the Sierra Norte. The route links some of the state's renowned culinary delights with Zapotec archeological sites, traditional markets, pottery workshops, and naturally dyed textiles, along with the world's stoutest tree...