The colonial starting point for the Copper Canyon train — a Pueblo Mágico where Zorro was born and the sierra begins
El Fuerte is a colonial Pueblo Mágico of 50,000 people in northern Sinaloa, on the Río Fuerte 200km north of Los Mochis, built as a 16th-century Spanish fort and trading post that served as the commercial gateway to the Sierra Madre Occidental. The El Fuerte river journey by motorboat to the El Chepe railway at Témoris (the most scenic section of the Copper Canyon train route, accessible only by river) is the destination's standout experience. The town is the claimed birthplace of El Zorro (the fictional Spanish California outlaw whose creator, Johnston McCulley, was inspired by a real El Fue…
El Fuerte (originally Montesclaros, named for the Spanish viceroy who ordered its construction) was founded in 1564 as a military and missionary base for the conquest of the Sinaloa interior — the name 'El Fuerte' (The Fort) was adopted after an uprising by local Zuaque and Tehuecos peoples destroyed the settlement, and it was rebuilt with stronger fortifications. The town served as the capital of the Sinaloa-Sonora region until 1821 and a significant distribution point for Sierra Madre silver and timber trade until the railroads bypassed it in the 1960s. The Mayo and Sinaloa peoples of the R…