Mexican Federal Highway 24

Mexican Federal Highway 24

Federal Highway 24 shield

Federal Highway 24
Carretera Federal 24
Highway system

Mexican Federal Highways

Fed. 23 Fed. 25

Mexican Federal Highway 24 (Carretera Federal 24) is a Federal Highway of Mexico.[1]

Contents

The Start of Mexican Federal Highway 24 In The North

Mexican Federal Highway 24 starts in the north at an intersection with the Mexican Federal Highway 16 toll highway. This intersection is at a point measured on the toll highway 16 that is 66 Km. west of Cuahtemoc and 38 Km. east of Chihuahua.

Mexican Highway 24 From The Intersection With Mexican Federal Highway 16 To Hidalgo del Parral

Mexican Federal Highway 24 then extends in a southerly direction for 184 Km. to Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua. At Hidalgo del Parral Highway 24 interestects with Federal Highway 45 which connects Parral with Jiminez to the east and Durango to the south.

Hidalgo del Parral to Guadalupe y Calvo

From Hidalgo del Parral, the finished section of paved highway going west runs some 245 Km. in a southwesterly directgion to the town of Guadalupe y. Calvo, Chihuahua, where the pavement ends. Along this stretch of Mexican Federal Highway 24, at a point 46 Km. west of Hidalgo del Parral there is an intersection with Chihuahua State Highway 23. From this intersecton, Chihuahua State Highway 23 runs north through Guachochi and Creel to eventually intersect Mexican Federal Highway 16, west of LaJunta, Chihuahua.

The gap of unfinished road from Guadalup y Calvo, Chihuahua to Santiago de los Caballeros, Sinaloa.

From Hidalgo del Parral, Mexican Federal Highway 24 was intended to extend southwest to cross the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range to the area of Culiacan in the state of Sinaloa. This section of highway was never completed. The central section—between the cities of Guadalupe y Calvo, in the state of Chihuahua and Santiago de los Caballeros in the state of Sinaloa—has never been completely graded or paved.

From Guadalup y Calvo, there is a gap in the paved road that stretches south and west to Santiago de los Caballeros, Sinaloa. This gap is estimated to cover a total of about 120 km to 160 km of roadway. In this gap, a series of unfinished and dirt roads extend south over the high wooded plateau of the Sierras and then winds down in a generally southwesterly direction to Santiago de los Caballeros. These dirt roads drop from about 2500 m. elevation on the plateau of the Sierras to about 200 m. of elevation at Santiago de los Caballeros, Sinaloa.

The unfinished portion of Mexican Federal Highway 24 over the Sierras is usually depicted on maps as a long gap in the pavement, but maps exist that erroneously show the road as complete.

The unpaved gap in Mexican Federal Highway 24 goes very near the point where the borders of Chihuahua, Durango and Sinaloa meet. This 3 way junction of state borders is notorious for drug traffic and drug traffic incidents.

Potential routes across the gap of unfinished road from Guadalup y Calvo, Chihuahua to Santiago de los Caballeros, Sinaloa.

Warnings

The following are warnings about the unimproved roads in the "gap" area. This broad network of unimproved roads is utilized by thousands of people, native to the area, going about their business on a daily basis. The non-native outsider traveling on these roads proceeds at his or her own risk.

The area of the "gap" is not considered to be safe for travel. These roads traverse part of a large area, the so called "golden triangle" which has its apex at the three way joinder of the boundaries of Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Durango. This apex is right in the middle of the Highway 24 "gap". The surrounding rugged mountain area of the Sierra Madre Occidental is notorious for entrenched and wide spread drug production, including cultivation of marijuana and poppies (for opium). This in turn has led to "drug wars" a) between the Mexican law enforcement authorities and drug producers, and also b) between competing factions of "narcotraficantes". There are widely reported instances of numerous lawless violent events in this area, including shootings, beatings, slayings, robberies (including carjackings) and kidnappings. The dominant drug producers have territorial fiefdoms throughout this area, whose boundaries and nuances are unknown to the visiting traveler. The extraordinary volume of cash flow generated from drug production has caused corruption of police authorities, particularly the local authorities, so that the traveler may not confidently rely on these sources for help.

Though it is illegal for anyone but the authorities to have firearms in Mexico, it is common to see men carrying weapons openly in this area. The traveler is most strongly cautioned not to carry any firearms. The traveler in this area often runs into random roadblocks set up by Mexican army or federal police, which involve vehicle and personal searches. If apprehended by authorities with a weapon, or in the pursuit of any illegal activity, the consequences could be dire.

Information about these routes is by review of aerial photography, and by report, but the majority of the routes have not been field tested.

The roads between the paved sections of Mexican Federal Highway 24 are unpaved and many are unimproved. While there are villages throughout the area, most are only a few houses and are too small to have any support for travelers or vehicles. Thus, along the way, there may or may not be fuel or mechanics for vehicle maintenance, or restaurants or hotels to sustain the traveler.

Portions of the roads have steep grades for extended distances, as when passing to or from the high plateau where Guadalupe y Calvo is located. Road conditions change with weather conditions, and during wet weather roads may become impassable, particularly on steep grades.

Most of the roads have been bulldozed across forests, along cliffs and over ridges. Small and even medium sized streams are crossed by fords. The roads are built out of necessity, and they are not constructed according to any safety standards. Unsafe conditions can be encountered with no warning. Washouts and landslides occur that shut down roads for unknown periods.

The roads are optimally traveled in a high clearance vehicle. Two wheel drive may be adequate with a reliable and adequate low gear, but four wheel drive is better.

Travel along these roads may be quite slow (averaging 15 to 40 km per hour). A full day of travel may only net an advance of 150 to 300 km. If the traveler gets lost he can easily be caught in this area by nightfall.

It is easy for the non-native traveler to get lost. There are numerous unpaved and unimproved road networks throughout this area servicing drug production, lumbering operations, and the cattle ranches. The multiple forks in the road network are not marked by signs. These forks lead off the main road to alternative road networks, or small villages and ranchos, or they simply dead end at fields where the cultivation may be legal or otherwise. If lost, a reasonable option is asking directions to the next village, but this requires knowledge of the identity of the next village, and Spanish language skills sufficient to ask for directions and to then understand detailed verbal instructions. Some villages have a local name as well as the "map name". Since it is considered impolite to not assist a traveler, instructions may be helpfully given that are not correct.

After getting lost among the unsigned forks in a road network the traveler can easily find himself benighted in this area. Travel at night is never a good idea in Mexico. It is generally better to stay the night in the car and try again the next day.

From Yerbitas to Santiago de los Caballeros, via Los Frailes and Tameapa (the recommended route)

Yerbitas, Chihuahua is a very small group of buildings about 30 Km. east of Guadalupe y Calvo on Federal Highway 24. At Yerbitas an unpaved road leaves Federal Highway 24 and goes to the south. At this point, a highway sign indicates that "Badiraguato" lies down the unpaved road.

This unimproved road goes south across the high plateau for about 60 Km, passing by Buenavista de Atascaderos, Chihuahua before reaching Los Frailes, Durango. The 3 way junction of the borders of Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Durango (the apex of the so-called "Golden Triangle of Mexico") is about 10 km. from Los Frailes. At Los Frailes,there is an important junction and the unpaved road forks.

The main fork from Los Frailes goes west and drops steeply off the high plateau, wending its way for about 60 Km. down to the village of Santiago de los Caballeros, after which the road is paved and continues southwest for about 40 Km. to Badiraguato, Sinaloa. This stretch has a confusing network of roads. From Los Frailes to Santiago de los Caballeros, the villages are in the following order: Huixiopa, El Sabino (las Bocas), Tameapa.

Alternative -- From Guadalupe y Calvo to Santiago de los Caballeros via Mt. Mohinora area, over Rio Mohinora, then to Huixiopa, El Sabino (Las Boca), and Santiago de Los Caballeros

This alternative route is confusing because of the forks in the road in the first 60 to 90 km section. The route starts from Guadalupe y Calvo from the southwestern edge of that city, and continues westward for about 25 km up to and past the large divide just to the north of Mt. Mohinora, the highest point in the Sierras. Three km past this divide on the west side is a series of forks in the road. The fork to the west leads down to Dolores (aka Carrero), Chihuahua, and from Delores a net work of roads goes south and eventually leads to a bridge (25°52'37.68"N, 107° 8'32.23"W) over the Rio Mohinora, a tributary of Rio Sinaloa. This bridge can also be reached by a different net work of roads starting from the forks that lie just a few kilometers past Mt. Mohinora, west of the divide. From these forks a network of roads continues to the southwest down to the aforementioned bridge over the Rio Mohinora. From the Rio Mohinora bridge, the road continues in a southwest direction for about 25 to 35 km, as it ascends to ridge tops, continues along the ridge tops and then descends down to Huixiopa. From Huixiopa, which is a collection of a few buildings, the road joins the road described above from Los Frailes and continues on to the west to El Sabino, and then south through Tameapa to Santiaqo de los Caballeros, after which paved roads continue to Badiraguato.

An alternative route from Los Frailes, down through Rio Huamaya Canyon to Culiacan

After traveling from Yerbitas to Lost Frailes (see above) the other fork from Los Frailes that goes south provides a possible alternative route directly to Culiacan. From Los Frailes, the unimproved road continues over the plateau in a southerly direction through El Durazno, and after about 35 to 40 Km. it passes through a deep cut in rock, "El Cerro Cortado" and then drops steeply off the plateau, traversing down over many switchbacks into the canyon of the Rio Huamaya to a place where the river makes an almost 360 degree bend around a rock promontory. La Mesa Colorado, Durango is the place name on the north bank and Embarcadero, Durango is the place name on the south bank of the river. Each appears to be simply a rancho. It is suggested that at La Mesa Colorado there is a ferry over the Rio Huamaya, or a ford in the dry season, but this has not been confirmed. Once over the river, unimproved but reliable appearing roads go on to Culiacan, Sinaloa, without going through Badiraguato. Should a crossing of the Rio Huamaya not be an option (due to seasonal changes in the level of the river flow that affect the ford or the operation of the ferry, or should the ferry simply be unattended that day) then the only alternativer is a return back over the road previously traversed to Los Frailes. Such a return trip up the switchbacks would be laborious and time consuming. The lack of specific information about the ability to cross the Rio Humaya and the resulting situation where one could be stranded by nightfall in a remote and potentially dangerous place makes this potential route the least attractive of the three routes.

From Santiago de los Caballeros, Sinaloa to the south end of Mexican Federal Highway 24 near Pericos, Sinaloa

The paved section of Mexican Federal Highway 24 commences again at Santiago de los Caballeros and runs some 80 Km. in a southwesterly direction through Badiraguato to reach Mexican Federal Highway 15, (the non-toll road) in the vicinity of Pericos, Sinaloa. This is the southern terminus of Mexican Federal Highway 24.

References

  1. ^ "Mapa Nacional de Comunicaciones y Transportes". Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes de Mexico. http://dgp.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/Atlas/turis2008.pdf. Retrieved December 11, 2008. 

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