Cerro de Garnica National Park

Cerro de Garnica National Park is a heavily forested mountain area in Michoacan, Mexico. The park is remote with no visitor amenities and is one of Mexico's most lightly visited parks.

History
The park was established in 1938, primarily to manage the water recharge zone. The park is a natural area that has never been developed for recreational use.

Landscape
The park spans an area of 1,936 hectares of mountainous terrain with dense forest. The highest point in the park is the summit of Cerro de Garnica (3,039 meters). There is a waterfall in the park called Cascada San Miguel de las Cuevas.

Flora and fauna
The park is mostly forest with pine, fir, and oaks. Quite a few mammal species live in the forests here, including white tail deer, gray fox, cocomixtle, and armadillos. More than 100 species of birds are resident in the forests including several species of warblers, as well as tanagers, hummingbirds, wrens, redstarts and kinglets. A number of reptiles can also be found here including at least two species of rattlesnake.

Get in
The park lies about 50 km east of Morelia on federal highway MEX 115 (Carratera Morelia-Toluca).

Lodging
There are some hotels in nearby villages, like Huajúmbaro, but the nearest large city with a large range of hotels will be Morelia.

Stay safe
Michoacan has issues with drug cartel violence in remote areas, see stay safe.

Go next

 * Monarch Butterfly Reserves
 * Tlalpujahua