Grutas de Tolantongo
Turquoise thermal river and cliff-edge pools in a canyon in Hidalgo, Mexico.
Carlos Adampol Galindo / Wikimedia Commons
- Bathing temperature
- 36°C
- Bathing
- Outdoor
- Accommodation
- Hotel on site
Warm mineral water emerges from a cave and tunnel at the head of the Tolantongo canyon and runs downstream as a bathable turquoise river, roughly 34–38°C. Terraces of small pools are built into the cliff face above it.
Balnevia view
Why visit
Bathing in a moving thermal river, and in pools set into a canyon wall, at a scale and setting that has no real equivalent in Europe.
Recommendations
Hotels nearby
Explore places to stay near Grutas de Tolantongo.
The water
Thermal water
- Source
- Tolantongo cave and tunnel springs
- Character
- Warm carbonate-rich water, turquoise where it enters the river
History
The site is run as a cooperative (ejido) by the local community, which built and maintains the pools, bridges and lodging along the canyon.
Practical information
Cash is essential — card payment is unreliable and there are no banks nearby. Weekends and Mexican holidays fill the site; midweek is calmer.
Getting there
About 4h30 by car from Mexico City via Ixmiquilpan; the final descent into the canyon is steep and narrow but paved.