Lagunas de Zempoala National Park is a natural protected area which consists of a group of seven lagoons. In the

Nahuatl language Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan languages, Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in ...

, "Zempoala" means "place of many waters." The park is located between the states of

Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cuer ...

and

State of Mexico The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Geography

The lagoons of Zempoala are located in a biological corridor named Chichinautzin, between the municipalities of Ocuilan de Arteaga, at the southwestern section of

and

Huitzilac Huitzilac is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos. It stands at and at an altitude of 2,561 m (8,402 ft) above sea level. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. With a 2010 census pop ...

, northwestern section of the state of

, 50 km away from Mexico City. The National Park covers about and lies at an elevation of about above sea level.

The Park

The Park consists of seven lagoons: Zempoala, Compila, Tonatihua, Seca, Ocoyotongo, Quila, and Hueyapan which are supplied with water through rain and the rivers descending from the

Ajusco Ajusco is a lava dome volcano located just south of Mexico City, Mexico, in the Tlalpan borough of the city. It is the highest point in the city. Etymology Ajusco is a Náhuatl word variously translated as "source of waters" or "watered grove", ...

and the surrounding mountains. Three of the lagoons (Zempoala, Tonatihua, and Prieta) have water the whole year, and the other four are seasonal.

Flora and fauna

The abundant forests surrounding the park include different types of trees such as oaks, cedars, pine trees and firs. In the park there is a possibility of finding a great variety of mammals such as deer, foxes, weasels, rabbits, squirrels, skunks, birds (such as falcons, hummingbirds and sparrows), and amphibians such as the

Axolotl The axolotl (; from nci, āxōlōtl ), ''Ambystoma mexicanum'', is a paedomorphic salamander closely related to the tiger salamander. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instea ...

Decree

The Zempoala lagoons were granted the title of national park on November 27, 1936 by the president of Mexico, and the decree was modified in May 1947 to reduce the parks territory to its current 4,700 hectares.

References

{{authority control National parks of Mexico Protected areas of Morelos Protected areas of the State of Mexico Protected areas of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt