The unique Great Wall of Pipes in Mexico's Primavera Forest... and how to get there.
The unique Great Wall of Pipes in Mexico's Primavera Forest... and how to get there.
By John Pint
Naturalist Rodigo Orozco with two nicely rounded pipes each measuring 45 centimeters in diameter.
Many years ago, while hiking through the huge Primavera Forest—located immediately west of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city—I stumbled upon a strange sight that I quickly found myself calling “The Great Wall.”
It was a cliff face about 70 meters long and 25 high. Protruding from this high wall I could see the tips of hundreds of cylinders of rock, piled one upon the other. Many of these cylinders were perfectly round and about half a meter in diameter but among them were others much fatter.
The Great Wall of Pipes is about 70 meters long and 25 high and is located at the northwest corner of Jalisco’s Primavera Forest.
“What in the world is this?” I wondered.
The Great Wall was not easy to get to, and after a while it faded from my memory, but very recently I discovered a relatively easy way to reach it—and also something of an explanation of what it is and how it came into existence.
That gigantic stack of stone cylinders turns out to be located only a 300-meter walk from a little park and campground hidden away deep inside the forest, a park reachable via a better-than-average brecha (dirt road).
I couldn't quite believe its name, but the place is seriously called Parque Recreativo La Hiedra, which means Poison Ivy Recreational Park and I was told I'd know I was on the right road to reach it “if you pass a huge garbage dump along the way.”
Garbage and Poison Ivy? Those would be enough to keep people away from the Great Pyramid of Cheops, no matter where it happened to be located!
Happily I discovered that—despite the name—there is no poison ivy to be seen at Poison Ivy Park and that the garbage dump is far enough away to cause no problems whatsoever.
On the contrary, Parque la Hiedra is quite simpático.
It just happens to be located alongside El Rio Salado, (the Salty River) which is the warm, downstream section of Rio Caliente (The Hot River), one of the Primavera Forest’s most famous landmarks. On top of that, the owners of this little park have managed to build a low dam in the river with a sluice gate, creating a pool deep enough for swimming.
The picturesque Salty River (El Río Salado) flowing into Parque la Hiedra.
To visit the Great Wall from here, just go to the west (downstream) end of the park, where you'll find a big iron gate. Climb over, under or through the gate and walk west 300 meters, following an old path which parallels the river, to another iron gate which you must also climb over or under. Now cross the river (barefoot or using water shoes) and you'll be standing directly in front of the wall of pipes.
I suggest you walk over to the very base of the cliff, a distance of 100 meters from the river. Up close, you’ll see that some of the cylinders do look more like pipes than solid rods.
The author for scale in the lower right-hand corner of the picture.
To understand a bit of what happened here, geologist Gail Mahood tells us we must go back 95,000 years, to Jalisco’s version of the Big Bang: a huge explosion—included in the list of the world’s large volcanic eruptions—which shot 40 cubic kilometers of volcanic ash and pumice straight up into the air while simultaneously spreading thick pyroclastic flows around the perimeter of a great hole called a caldera. These flows of incandescent ash and pumice, known as the Tala Tuff, smothered the area. Beneath this pyroclastic flow, there had been water in some places, but it was instantly turned to steam. Bubbles of this water vapor then attempted to reach the surface, rising straight up through the hot ash, transforming the material it was passing through.
Eventually, when things cooled down, each pathway where bubbles had been rising, solidified as an individual column or cylinder of rock, considerably harder than the surrounding ash.
Many centuries later, as the ash is eroded away, we see the tips of these columns, technically called fumarolic pipes or fossil fumaroles, protruding from the ground and resembling a forest of stone tree stumps.
Fumarolic pipes are formed vertically and most often look like tree stumps made of stone. Barbara Dye among fossil fumaroles of the Tala Tuff.
In the case of the Great Wall, geological forces turned a large number of these columns sideways, today resembling a gigantic stack of horizontal pipes.
After hiking out to the Great Wall of Pipes, you can return to Parque la Hiedra for a swim in the deliciously warm, mineral-rich waters of the Salty River. Note that this is a safe and comfortable place to camp, should you be inclined. The park has a large, flat, grassy meadow alongside the river, well shaded by rare, beautiful pinos tristes, sad pines (Pinus Lumholtzii). They also have changing rooms, clean toilets and running cold water. You can get there by asking for Parque Recreativo La Hiedra on Google Maps. For fees and other information, call the park at Whatsapp 331 860 6791.
The coordinates of the Great Wall, for those who may be interested, are N20.69432 W103.65953.
Geologist J. V. Wright is one of the world’s few researchers who has studied fumarolic pipes and in particular those of the Tala Tuff. I asked him how many other large walls of pipes have been reported elsewhere in the world. Wright shared with me photos of two sites, one in the Bishop Tuff at Crowley Lake, California and the other in the Bandelier Tuffs of New Mexico. Each is curious and interesting in its own way, but, concluded Wright, the complexity of The Great Wall in the Tala Tuff is unique “and nothing like it has ever been described.”
Luis Valdivia at a smaller wall in the Tala Tuff known as “Martian Eyes.”
Poison Ivy Park offers room to camp and play on a grassy meadow shaded by Sad Pines.
Published as Guadalajara’s curious natural phenomenon: ‘The Great Wall of Pipes’ in Mexico News Daily on August 11, 2023.
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