Talpa from above

After picking up my new passport in Vallarta last year I drove up highway 70 thru Mascota intending to overnight in Autlan. I came to the Talpa turn off to the south and had to take a look but after a mile or two was presented with this site. Overlooks or viewpoints on Mexican highways are rare but here was a good one.

Anyway it looked too far to just visit and just turn around so I headed back to highway 70 to continue. What I would like to know is if there is only one entrance to Talpa ... or is there another from highway 80.

Talpa Jalisco off highway 70

Mascota and Highway 70

I went up to Vallarta a few weeks ago to get my renewed passport with the plans of making a loop thru Mascota and beyond and returning to Melaque via highway 80. I stayed one night in Bucieras before picking up the passport and another night in Autlan on the way back.

Highway 70 leaves Vallarta just south of the Nayarit border, north of the airport and next to the new Vallarta Home Depot. It's about 40 kilometers of small towns and farmland before you start into the mountains. The road is actually very good except they have cut thru some impossible hillsides making yearly roadwork a necessity. Right now (November 2007) they are working on about five major sections both east and west of Mascota. Most of the work is on the west side.

After crossing the bridge below it mostly flat land until you drop back down into Mascota. Mascota is very Colonial in a non-fancy way with one church in ruins looking as if it was a religious center for the area many years ago. Lots of classic construction and cobble stone streets.

Mascota from above


Mascota church




Mascota plaza


Highway 70 bridge

Mascota trip webpage with more fotos