Parque Ecológico Cerro de Macuiltépetl

The best time to go to the park is between 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., when the birds are most active. It is a very good place to visit throughout the year, since in winter you can find a great wealth of birds among migratory and resident species and in spring, when there are no migratory species, resident birds are in reproductive season so both can be easier to observe. You can do the bird watching tour in two ways, the first is to start from the lower part of the park and go up the trails that surround the hill, the second is to go up the trails that take you to the highest part and start going down on the trails that surround the place, either way is a good option.

A great advantage of this park is that the birds are accustomed to people exercising, so observation is a relatively easy activity, so far 257 species have been registered for the park. The place is a combination of remnants of the original vegetation of the region, cloud forest, along with non-native vegetation, most of the trails have large trees and while you climb some of them may be at eye level, due to the orography of the place, you can also find some open areas. Cerro del Macuiltepetl is perhaps the best place in and around the city to observe Blue-capped Motmot and a place where you can surely find Green Jay other resident birds that you can find here are Azure-crowned Hummingbird, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing , Blue Mockingbird, Band-backed Wren among others. The site has a small reintroduced population of Bearded Wood-Patridge or Chivizcoyo as it is known in the region, but this bird is not easy to observe. During the fall migration and part of the winter it is a good place to observe migratory birds from both the East and West of the US and Canada, you can find mixed flocks of Wood-Warbles, Vireos, and Flycatchers.

The easiest way to get there is a car, there is no public transport service that takes you directly to the park. If you do not have a car, the easiest way is to get there in a taxi, you must tell the taxi driver which entrance of the park you want to take you to (more details see facilities).

The park has two entrances, the first on Aguascalientes street, in this access there is a public parking lot but due to the influx of visitors it is sometimes difficult to find a free place, the second access is on Nevado de Toluca street, this access does not have parking, but it is a street with less traffic so you can find a place to park more easily. If you enter the park through the Aguascalientes street access you will be able to see the gardens of the neighboring buildings to the park, it is an open area where you could easily observe some birds, eventually this path joins the Nevado de Toluca street access.

The park has a fauna museum where some reptiles and amphibians as well as birds of prey are exhibited. In addition, you can find an observation tower from where you can get a full view of the city, but unfortunately it is not always open.

There are no hotels near the place, but it is very easy to get from the hotels in the city center, with a car you can from the city center to Cerro del Macuiltepetl in approximately 15 min, with traffic it could be a little more, a taxi could take you from the city center for approximately $ 35 mexican pesos ($ 2.0 USD), there are no buses that can take you directly to the park. If you want to eat something after bird watching you can find a cafe from a famous local brand, Bola de Oro, about 10 minutes away, or if you prefer to bring your breakfast you can find picnic areas. At the Aguascalientes street access you can find fruit juices for sale. Inside the park you can find public toilets.