🏔️ La RumorosaThe pass, El Vallecito and the overlooks of the sierra

La Rumorosa is, all at once, a town, a road and an entire region of the Sierra de Juárez, in the municipality of Tecate. For anyone leaving Mexicali, it is the first big climb into the mountains: barely an hour from the city, the desert turns into granite canyons and cool air.

Its name is born of the wind: it blows tirelessly among the rocks and gorges of the sierra, producing a constant murmur—a "rumor"—that gives the whole place its name. That same wind is now the raw material for the wind farm that crowns the range.

The La Rumorosa pass—the stretch of Federal Highway 2D between Tecate and Mexicali—is famous across Mexico for its curves, grades and views: from the top you can see the sierra plunge toward the plain of the Mexicali valley. But the area is much more than the road: this is where the El Vallecito rock paintings, around 3,000 years old, and the famous Diablito that lights up at the winter solstice are found.