This post shares everything you need to know about visiting Cascadas de Minas Viejas. A gorgeous blue waterfall in the Huasteca Potosina region of San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
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About Cascadas de Minas Viejas
The Minas Viejas Waterfall absolutely took our breath away!
Two falls cascade from over 50 metres into an enormous bright blue pool. The main pool flows into smaller pools, dotted everywhere you look, with perfectly calm and still water to float in.
This place was truly magical and didn’t even feel real. We felt like we were in a fairytale, seeing the vibrant blue colour of the water, contrasted against the lush green growth falling from the sides of the canyon.
It is simply spectacular and a must-visit waterfall in La Huasteca Potosina. I think maybe even our favourite one!
A waterfall as pretty as this one is popular. However, the site is large enough that even on a busy day you can find a spot to yourself if you walk a little further back from the main waterfall.
CASCADAS DE MINAS VIEJAS QUICK FACTS 💎
- 📍 Location: Google Maps location
- 💰 Cost to visit: 100 pesos (~$5.5 USD) per person with mandatory lifejacket
- ⏰ Opening hours: Monday – Sunday 7 am – 6 pm
- 💻 Official website: Cascadas de Minas Viejas Facebook page
What is La Huasteca Potosina?
Cascadas de Minas Viejas is just one of the many waterfalls found in La Huasteca Potosina.
But what is Huasteca Potosina? Before I go any further, I will explain a little bit more about this stunning part of Mexico.
La Huasteca is a geographical and cultural region that spans seven states in the northeast of the country, along the Gulf of Mexico. This area gets its name from the Huastec people who populated the region at the height of their civilization around 750 to 800 AD.
La Huasteca Potosina is a smaller part of the wider Huasteca region, located in the state of San Luis Potosi.
It spans 20 different municipalities around the state and is a hub for nature and adventure tourism. The region is blessed with unique geography, filled with stunning rivers, vast canyons, caves, thundering waterfalls and lush rainforest.
If you’re a nature lover like we are, this region is simply paradise and it was one of our best surprises in Mexico!
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Where is Cascadas de Minas Viejas
Cascada de Minas Viejas is located in the northern part of La Huasteca Potosina. The closest town is El Naranjo.
To reach the falls by car takes:
- 📍El Naranjo: 30 minutes
- 📍Ciudad Valles: 1 hour 30 minutes
- 📍Tamasopo: 2 hours
How to get to Cascadas de Minas Viejas
GETTING AROUND THE HUASTECA POTOSINA REGION 🚙
La Huasteca Potosina is a large region that spans over 20 different municipalities in San Luis Potosi.
Although there is public transport between major cities and towns around the state, many of the best waterfalls and natural sights are not accessible by public transport.
Cascadas de Minas Viejas are particularly difficult to reach by public transport as the bus only stops on the main highway, and the falls are quite a distance away on a very quiet road.
We highly recommend renting a car for your time in La Huasteca Potosina. This is what we did, and the directions and information we provide in this post will be from the perspective of having your own wheels.
Alternatively, you can consider renting a taxi for a half or full day to take you to one or more of the waterfalls. We would suggest agreeing on a time and price in advance so the taxi driver will wait for you. The cost for a daily rental should be at least 1,000 pesos (~$55 USD), but you’ll need to negotiate.
The other option to visit sights around the region is with a tour. Either a fully inclusive package that includes visits to multiple sites across a few days. Or individual day tours from a home base, which would be Ciudad Valles. This tour is a great option to visit Cascadas de Minas Viejas, combining with nearby Cascadas de Micos.
To learn more about navigating the La Huasteca Potosina region, check out our complete travel guide here.
By car
The location on Google Maps is correct, so you shouldn’t have any issues reaching the falls, no matter where you’re coming from.
When you arrive there will be a number of people at your window trying to direct you to their car park. Someone tried to quote us 150 pesos or ~$8 USD (!!!) for parking, but we drove into the first spot we saw and it was only 50 pesos (~$3 USD).
We arrived at Cascadas de Minas Viejas from Cascada El Aguacate, which took around 1 hour and 15 minutes. The road was quite bumpy and only semi-paved most of the way, but nothing our small sedan rental car couldn’t handle.
From El Aguacate, the map advised us to backtrack for a while towards Ciudad Valles, then head north towards the Minas Viejas. However, we saw there was a road that cut through and avoided the need to backtrack. We tried it and it was the most beautiful drive through sugar cane fields with mountains all around! It shaved about 15 minutes off what Google Maps originally said.
The route we took eventually connected up with the main road you would use coming from Ciudad Valles (1.5 hours). It’s the same road going in the opposite direction from El Naranjo (0.5 hours). The road is paved, but poorly maintained so keep your eyes peeled for large potholes and hidden topes (speed bumps) that aren’t signed.
🚗 Depending on how and where you are arriving in the Huasteca Potosina region, you can rent a car from:
By tour
Cascadas de Minas Viejas is one of the more popular falls, so you are likely to encounter a few tour groups.
On the plus side, this means if you don’t have your own car you can easily access Cascadas de Minas Viejas with a tour.
There are several options departing from Ciudad Valles:
- 💎 Minas Viejas Waterfall and Micos Waterfalls Tour: this tour includes a stop at Cascadas de Minas Viejas and Cascadas de Micos. You’ll have the opportunity to do the ‘jumping’ tour at Micos.
- 💦 Rappelling beside Minas Viejas and Micos Waterfall: visits the same waterfalls, but includes rappelling next to the falls if you’re an adventure junkie! We saw some people doing this at Minas Viejas and it looked super fun.
Accessing Cascadas de Minas Viejas
As with most of the waterfalls in the area, you need to go down to reach Cascadas de Minas Viejas!
The walk is relatively easy down declining stairs and a path. I believe there are over 300 steps but it doesn’t feel too strenuous as the path is well-made with rails and is quite a slow decline.
It will take around ten minutes to get down and be sure to stop at the mirador to get a beautiful view of the falls too.
Going up is a little rough, but nothing too challenging.
Costs to visit Cascadas de Minas Viejas
The fee to enter Cascadas de Minas Viejas is 100 pesos (~$5.5 USD) per person.
It is mandatory to wear a life jacket here, and lifeguards are enforcing this with their whistles. The entrance fee already includes the life jacket, plus the use of bathrooms, palapas and grills.
Parking is also an additional cost here if you are driving, and varies wildly depending on which parking lot you choose. They seem to all be managed separately and someone tried to quote us 150 pesos (~$8 USD) to park. No way! We drove into the first one we saw and it was only 50 pesos (~$3 USD) to park for an unlimited amount of time.
Facilities at Cascadas de Minas Viejas
Cascadas de Minas Viejas are popular falls and have all the amenities you need.
The walk down to the falls is lined with lots of little food stalls, restaurants and shops selling drinks, meals, snacks, and water-related gear like phone covers, water shoes etc.
There were bathrooms and change rooms on the way down too.
Development has thankfully been limited directly around the falls which is great. You won’t find anything besides the life jacket rental stall.
It is also possible to camp right next to the falls, and there are a few grills and picnic tables scattered around a large lawn area.
In terms of activities, there are a few different spots where you can jump off a rock into the pool right next to the falls. You can just swim over and wait your turn, no need to organise a specific tour.
There are also plenty of companies offering rappelling tours, and we watched some people scaling down from the top of the falls.
Many of these tours would have been organised in advance, like the ones I mentioned above. It’s also possible to turn up and organise rappelling on the spot. We saw some pricing for 350 pesos per person.
There is plenty of space at Cascadas de Minas Viejas to set up your things, and you could easily hang out here for a whole day.
There were chairs and tables dotted around, a large open grassy area full of groups with picnic rugs, snacks and drinks.
If you continue walking away downstream from the falls, there are tons of hidden spots to hang out, and hopefully, you’ll find a private pool to yourself like we did!
When to visit Cascadas de Minas Viejas
There are two elements to this question – what time of the year is best to visit the La Huasteca Potosina region in general, and what time of the week is best to visit Minas Viejas Waterfall.
THE BEST TIME TO VISIT HUASTECA POTOSINA 🌤️
The best time to visit the waterfalls of Huasteca Potosina is between November – March.
By November, the rains have stopped and the weather is mild, and the falls are flowing. It can be a little chilly in the region in the peak of winter, but the waterfalls are at their best.
By the end of March, at the tail end of the dry season, the falls will not be very strong. Some can even close (such as the popular Cascada de Tamul) due to lack of water.
July – October is the wet season, and this is not a good time to visit the region. Although there will be a lot of water and the falls will be thundering down, it can be very dangerous and often impossible to get close to the falls.
You won’t be able to swim or take boats right up close to the falls if there have been heavy rains and many of the rivers flood. Sediment gets churned up and the usually crystal clear blue waters will be brown and muddy.
As with all the waterfalls in the region, visiting first thing in the morning on a weekday is always going to give you the best chance of having the place to yourself.
Cascadas de Minas Viejas are popular falls, but they are also some of the furthest away from Ciudad Valles, which can make them a bit quieter than closer ones such as Cascadas de Micos.
These waterfalls are a popular spot for tours, so you may have to contend with some large groups if you visit during peak times.
We visited on a Saturday afternoon of a long weekend (oops) and it was pretty busy when we arrived. There were multiple groups doing the rappelling tours, and plenty of families were set up for the day. But being a long weekend, that is to be expected.
Although it was busy it didn’t ruin our experience. There were plenty of spots to lay our towels down, and despite being a lot of people at the falls, there weren’t actually that many in the water.
Our top tip is to walk in the opposite direction of the main pool, and you will find more pools with no one there! It looked like you could have kept walking forever and the river was still flowing into beautiful blue pools.
Other attractions nearby
Cascadas de Minas Viejas is part of a group of waterfalls that is sometimes referred to as the ‘turquoise route’. This encompasses Cascadas de Minas Viejas, Cascada El Salto and Cascadas El Meco.
The second two falls are just under an hour north of Cascadas de Minas Viejas, in the small town of El Meco, which is close to the larger town of El Naranjo.
We approached the region as a road trip style, staying in different places each night, rather than returning to Ciudad Valles each day. To help you plan your route, this is what we did before and after visiting Cascadas de Minas Viejas.
Over two days, we followed this route:
- 🥑 Depart from Ciudad Valles and drive to Cascada El Aguacate (1.5 hours)
- ✨ Continue north to Cascadas de Minas Viejas (1 hour)
- 🚗 Drive onwards to El Naranjo and stay the night (0.5 hours)
- 💎 Drive to Cascada El Salto in the town of El Meco the following morning (0.5 hours)
- 🚣🏽♀️ Move from Cascada El Salto to Cascadas El Meco (15 minutes)
The three falls in the ‘turquoise route’ are well-known and easy to travel between. We highly recommend also visiting the lesser-known Cascada El Aguacate, and we think the most logical way to visit this fall is to combine it with Cascadas de Minas Viejas in one day.
You could also squeeze in a visit to Cascadas de Micos as the first stop from Ciudad Valles if you leave early enough. Alternatively, you could easily visit on the way back to Ciudad Valles on your second day.
Where to stay when visiting Cascadas de Minas Viejas
Where you stay completely depends on how you are approaching your itinerary in La Huasteca Potosina:
- 🏡 Base yourself in Ciudad Valles and do day trips each day; OR
- 🚗 Road trip style, staying in different locations each night
Here are some recommended accommodation choices, no matter which option you’ve gone for:
- 💦 Stay at the falls – it’s possible to set up a tent right on-site at the waterfall. There is a big open lawn area, and some shaded forested areas to set up your tent. It is 200 pesos to camp, and I believe this is a fee per tent, not per person. This is in addition to the entry fee. If you don’t want to camp, but still want to stay close to Cascadas de Minas Viejas, there are some cabañas around the area. Bel-Ha Ecoparque is just up the road and offers really cute, palm-thatched cabañas.
- 🏩 Stay in Ciudad Valles – if you’re using Ciudad Valles as a base, we recommend Casa AMMAH for a mid-range option, with exceptional reviews, lovely hosts and a communal kitchen. If you’re on a budget, we stayed at Hostal Casa Huasteca and really loved it. Or if you want a little splurge, Hotel Casa Ortiz is a stunning option with a pool.
- 🍊 Stay in El Naranjo – if you’re road-tripping it, El Naranjo is a logical place to stay after visiting Cascadas de Minas Viejas. There aren’t too many options listed on the online booking platforms, but a quick search on Google Maps and we found some gems. Hotel Bella Vista is located right on the river and offers basic, but charming rooms. We stayed there and couldn’t stop gawking at the incredible blue river right outside our door! Hotel del Valle is a more standard hotel-style option in town and Hotel Tayha is the ‘fanciest’ choice.
Final thoughts on Cascadas de Minas Viejas
I could say this about all the waterfalls we visited in La Huasteca Potosina, but Cascadas de Minas Viejas really was magical.
The sheer size of the area and the large milky blue pools everywhere you turn were simply spectacular.
This is a popular and well-known waterfall, but its distance from Ciudad Valles keeps it a little quieter than some of the closer waterfalls.
MORE HUASTECA POTOSINA POSTS
- Huasteca Potosina: Guide to Mexico’s Waterfall Wonderland
- 10 San Luis Potosi Waterfalls to Visit in Huasteca Potosina
- How to Visit Cascada de Tamul, San Luis Potosi: Hike or Boat
- How to Visit Cascadas de Tamasopo: Huasteca Potosina, Mexico
- How to Visit Puente de Dios: Tamasopo, Huasteca Potosina
- How to Visit Cascada El Salto: San Luis Potosi, Mexico
- How to Visit Cascada El Aguacate: San Luis Potosi, Mexico
