Mazatlan’s Stairway to Heaven Leads to a Modern Lookout

the new sign

Although this is already our fourth visit to Mazatlan, there is one landmark that we had meant to conquer from the very beginning but we haven’t. We decided we would not let this visit pass until we climb the highest lighthouse in North America, the El Faro Mazatlan.  Located on the top of 523-ft high Creston Hill at the entrance to the Port of Mazatlán, the lighthouse is accessed by climbing 300 paved stairs after a moderately steep gravel path.

I was unsure that, at 71, I am a healthy individual with good physical abilities for whom the website says the hike is recommended. But people had been telling me that it is well worth the climb because of the great views of the city and the sea around it. It is free of charge, open from 6:30 am to 8 pm every day.  It is, however, NOT wheelchair accessible.

the stairs going up

We made sure we were ready for the hike, wore good walking shoes, and brought enough water to drink. After breakfast, at about 9:30 am, we rode the Green Bus to Sabalo Central which takes you through downtown and Old Mazatlan. The stop on the road leading to the hill and the entrance to El Faro is the last one on this line. It was about a 30-minute ride from our El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel.

Since it is a very popular attraction, there were many others hiking with us that morning, a lot of them even older than me. I told myself I had to make it to the top. Besides, there were many improvements made in 2018, including a new 'Faro Mazatlan' sign next to the entrance where there are also restrooms. Plastic webbing was also added to 50% of the gravel path for additional stability but there seemed to be not much of it left., after only just more than a year. But it is good that we had waited this long to go.

a view of Port Mazatlan from the top

After about 30 minutes and countless stops to take "breathtaking" photos, we reached the top. We stayed quite a while to have all the photo-ops we could have of the scenery around, with us in them. We especially loved the new glass-bottomed lookout added as part of the 2018 improvements. Although a small fee of M$10 (US$0.55) is charged to go out on it—and we had to wear blue plastic shoe fittings—the experience was both exhilarating and scary, given my fear of heights.

at the end of the new lookout

the Virgin Mary on the rock

They say there were also plans to add a zip-line from the top of the El Faro to Paseo Claussen. That would have been so extreme that it would somehow end up being unsafe so the plans were dropped. In fact, on the way down, almost near the top, we noticed flowers thrust onto the side of a rock. We thought it was to remember an ill-fated death. But the locals pointed to a plaque of the Virgin Mary engraved higher up into the rock. These are so common everywhere in this predominantly Catholic country. My native land, the Philippines, is also predominantly Catholic but we do not have such devotional practices.

The hike down took us no more than 15 minutes but I was so tired I wanted to get a taxi to get back to the hotel fast. But I also needed to shed some pounds from all the all-inclusive food so I resisted the temptation and took the Green Bus again. That was a great day trip. It was too bad we were not allowed to go up the lighthouse as it still functions as a lighthouse.

El Faro

In 1828, the location began to be used as a reference point to guide the ships to the port. The Lighthouse was added in 1890 to 1892 and was built at a height of 157 meters above the middle-high tide. This makes it the tallest natural lighthouse in the world. Its location is 23⁰ 10.5 'north latitude, and 106⁰ 26.5' of west longitude. With a light beam that is 1,000 watts and an angle of illumination 270⁰ at 170⁰, it can be seen by ships at a distance of 30 nautical miles or 55 kilometers. 

I woke up the following day with sore calves. But I will always remember trips to lighthouses. They is always something magical about them. This one even more so. It is Mazatlan's stairway to heaven with a modern lookout.  



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