Hey Mexico experts....I'm back. Furiously planning our April trip to Copper Canyon.

We plan to cross at Nogales, Mex 15 south, then cut over at Magdalena de Kino to Mex 118, then head south down to Mex 14.

From here I'm not sure what to do. I know
we can't make Creel in one day, but I'm
not wild about leading 5 riders into huge
Hermosillo to try to find a Motel. I don't know Hermosillo at all, never stopped there.

Does anyone have any good ideas for a Motel along this route? I figure we could
continue south, crossing Mex 14 and head south and link with Mex 16, then head east towards Creel, but eventually we would run out of daylight.

I've done Mex 16 twice but can't remember if any of the towns along 16 have a decent motel or not. Maybe Yecora
or one of those little towns?

Or should we play it safe and stay the night in Hermosillo? Any tips on places
at the Northeastern end of town?

BTW, we are fairly fast riders and can easily do a 400 mile day. (starting from Nogales at 9am. Should get dark by 6pm.

Any help or ideas appreciated!

Patrick

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

As you come into Hermosillo from the north, there's a nice motel on the right. San Marino...or something like that. You won't miss it. Courtyard, restaurant (buffet) attached, cerveza tiendas a block or 2 away, safe.

It's on the northside before you get into possible confusion. About $35 iirc.

After that is Yecora on 16.

I have a lot of names of places to stay along Mex 16 and to Creel, but I favour the more humble type of hotel , so I don´t know if you would like them. Sorry , tonight I´ve left my list in my hotel here in Panuco,VER, so I´ll just work from memory.
In Hermosillo I like to stay in the Pima Inn,$15.75US single in ´03, a basic and clean little motel , in the NE entrance to the city on north side of Mex15 /Blv.Kino at km 275, after it curves into town . It is across the road from the big flour mill and just east of the junction with the city by-pass south for Mex 15.
Yecora is good for several hotels .Another good stop is at the small motel with restaurant across from the Pemex station at Cahuisori, 4km west of the vilage of Basaseachic.Basaseachic itself also has several hotels .On the way to Creel on Mex 16 I have no qualms about staying at any of the hotels in San Juanito. Just ask around and you will find something to suit you.
This now being a day later I have had a lot of time to consider your proposed routing, while I was cruising north through Tamaulipas enjoying the scents of blooming orange trees and huizache. Aaaah spring.
I have an important suggestion for you Mollydog. Slow down ! If you are planning on doing 400miles per day you are going to have to ride your butt of , start at the crack of dawn and and stop only for fuel ,food and farts. Your numbers work out to 644km per day, fine for the US highways you are familiar with, and possible on the long unpopulated desert stretches in Mexico. However, check your memory banks on Mex 16. Right , the curves and mountains start 120km east of Hermosillo., no way can you do 644km per day and still expect to be able to make many stops to take in the views, to cruise through some of the picturesque towns,to "jest set a spell .
Don´t be afraid of Hermosillo , it is quite easy to navigate, and if you check in at the Pima Inn it is only a short ride down the same street to the historic center. Then everyone knows where the motel is and they can find their own way back to the basecamp. Take the spiral road to the top of the conical butte on the south edge of the old city center and take in the view, really nice as the sun sets and the lights come on.
If you have your mind set on avoiding Hermosillo then take Mex 2 east all the way through Cananea (hotels) to Agua prieta (hotels).Alterantively don´t even cross at Nogales but go to Douglas AZ/Agua Prieta and take hiway 17 south to Moctezuma, ( good hotels in Esqueda, Nacozari,Moct.) then connect to Sahuaripa by the dirt road (hotels too) then the rugged paved road south to connect to Mex 16 just where the mountains and curves begin to get serious. Then east to Maycoba (hotels)Cahuisori/Basaseachic(hotels) and the gravel road to San Juanito (hotels) or east on mex 16 through Tomochic (hotels) to the turnoff south to San Juanito and Creel. All good roads and scenery but not 644km per day !Hope this helps a bit.
[This message has been edited by Sjoerd Bakker (edited 03 March 2006).]

[This message has been edited by Sjoerd Bakker (edited 04 March 2006).]

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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

This is all good info guys, thanks so much. Sjoerd, this is cool you're on the road down there now. Hope your trip is going well. Where will you be around
April 24th or so? We should be in Copper Canyon at that point, but I may go to Real de Catorce with a buddy or two.

Lone, thanks also for the Hermosillo
idea. This is probably what we will end up
doing. I am taking Sjoerd's suggestion
and slowing it down some. Too many
miles, too fast a pace. He is right.

450 miles on these roads in one day is
not gonna happen. So I will shorten our
day and hope for the best!

Sjoerd, man you have a memory like a
steel trap! wow. You should write a guide book. Seriously . The kind of info your
giving is great and guide books never take the motorcycle rider into account.
I would be happy to contribute what I know. Lone too is SUPER experienced in
the art of Mexican travel.

Thanks so much, I'm getting out the
Guia Roji to study a bit more. Sorry for
the late reply but because my email had
changed I was not getting email notification of your posts.

I hope you will stick around, I may have
to pick your brains again!

Patrick

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

great info thanks guys.....we will be passing this exact route around april 12 thru 19th for a week of palying there...4 KLR buddies...we need a winter break...

we were gonna blast past Hermisillo (cuota) and then onto Guyamas and San Carlos to visit .....but the back way thru Cananea is sounding yummy

cheers all

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life is good, always free flow!

Sad to tell you Mollydog, but my vacation is over , two months of just wandering around Mexico exploring and enjoying. A week ago today I got back to Ontario zipping up I-75 from Florida during a spell of cold sunny dry weather , my window of opportunity for re-entry from orbit. Back at work to rebuild my travel fund,Mexico but as fond memory. The worst that happened was a broken throttle cable on the north coast of the Yucatan, repaired for $1.50 parts and labour using a new bicycle brake cable as a temporary fix.Actually ,I have been toying with the idea of producing just such a motorcycle oriented guide for a number of years and have collected over 500 inexpensive hotels all over Mexico and Central America from actual visits and inspections and this trip I updated the data of many of those as I came by them again.Thats haow Iwas able to rattle off the hotels around the Copper Canyon.

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