Barranca de Oblatos ( en, Oblatos Canyon), also known as Barranca de Huentitán, is a
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to ...
carved by the
Río Grande de Santiago
The Río Grande de Santiago, or Santiago River, is a river in western Mexico. It flows westwards from Lake Chapala via Ocotlán through the states of Jalisco and Nayarit to empty into the Pacific Ocean. It one of the longest rivers in Mexico, ...
in
Mexico in the state of
Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
. It lies on the northeast side of the municipality of
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaj ...
and on the edge of the municipalities of
Tonalá,
Zapotlanejo,
Ixtlahuacán del Río and
Zapopan
Zapopan () is a city and municipality located in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, the population of Zapopan city proper makes it the second largest city in the state, very close behind the population of ...
in the
Guadalajara Metropolitan Area
The Guadalajara metropolitan area (officially, in es, Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara) is the most populous metropolitan area of the Mexican state of Jalisco and the third largest in the country after Greater Mexico City and Monterrey. It incl ...
. Its beauty and structure make it a slightly smaller scale version of the
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mi ...
in the
United States, and
Barranca del Cobre in
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
* Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mu ...
.
[''Barranca de Oblatos (Jalisco)''](_blank)
"Escuela Secundaria 5 Mixta U"
It includes approximately and it has an average depth of . The difference in elevation between the rim of the canyon () and the river () is at the point of a funicular. This canyon is also named Oblatos-Huentitán due to the areas in the city crossed by it, called Oblatos and Huentitán respectively.
Human history
Several important events in the history of Guadalajara occurred in the canyon. In the 19th century, during the
Spanish Conquest combat between the indigenous natives of Huentitán and the Spaniards took place in this area. This was also the location of many battles of the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
and
Cristero War.
But perhaps the most interesting story about this canyon is that of a flooding that took place during the ''Porfiriato'' era (1876-1911).
Protected area
The Canyon is considered a
biogeographic corridor since it is home to several types of vegetation:
Tropical Forest
Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.
Some tropical for ...
,
Deciduous,
Riparian forest
A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir.
Etymology
The term riparian comes from the Latin word '' ...
vegetation and secondary vegetation. Several species of flora and fauna are endemic to the canyon. It is often visited by national and international investigators since it includes great biological diversity.
On June 5, 1997 the canyon was declared a
Nature reserve, under the category of Zone subject to Ecological Conservation
Protected Area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
by the
World Conservation Union of all the area belonging to the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area because it is the most urbanized area. Great Horned Owls, Collared Peccaries, Bobcats, Gray Foxes, Opossums, Red-tailed Boas, Barn Owls, Leaf Cutter Ants and Vampire Bats are among the species making a home in the canyon.
There are several urbanized areas that cover the eastern side of the canyon, complexes such as the
University of Guadalajara
The University of Guadalajara ( es, Universidad de Guadalajara) is a public higher education institution in the Mexican city of Guadalajara. The university has several high schools as well as graduate and undergraduate campuses, which are dis ...
campus of the
CUAAD Center of Art, Architecture and Design, the
Guadalajara Zoo, and the now closed
Guadalajara Planetarium. In addition to several residential areas, there are also sporting and recreational facilities that include soccer fields, basketball, tennis and fronton courts, picnic spaces, a running strip, a recreational park and an outdoor theater. There were plans to build the next
Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
Museums in this group include:
Locations
Americas
* The Solomon R. Guggenh ...
in early 2008, the controversial Arcediano dam project and a high-rise project called ''Puerta Guadalajara'' (Guadalajara Gate) which would have included a shopping mall, a convention center, two hotels, two museums, 9 residential towers and two more corporate towers. None of these projects were started and it seems likely that they have now all been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. However, work is in progress on the construction of an art museum in the Mirador park, on the site formerly intended for the Guggenheim museum project.
References
External links
Barranca de Oblatos at TripAdvisor.comThe Birds of Barranca de Oblatos- 1958 survey By ROBERT K. SELANDER and DONALD R. GILLER, of
UTA
{{Coord missing, Jalisco
Nature reserves in Mexico
Canyons and gorges of Mexico
Landforms of Jalisco
Tourist attractions in Jalisco
Río Grande de Santiago
Protected areas of Jalisco