Your Guadalajara outdoor experience can begin right in town, with hiking, jogging, and wildlife-viewing opportunities at the big northwest-side Bosque de los Colomos park. Outside of town, you’ll find many other ways to experience the great outdoors.

HIKING AND WILDLIFE VIEWING
Hiking opportunities abound in the Guadalajara region, especially in and around Mazamitla, Tapalpa and the Bosque de Primavera. The animals and birds commonly viewable in these temperate mountain zones are similar to those of the rural western United States. Foxes, wildcats, badgers, coyotes, and mountain lions are not uncommon; neither are birds such as hawks, vultures, doves, and owls. Unless you’re super-experienced or fortunate, you’ll see more animals and learn about more plants if you hire a guide. Not much luck on the trails? If you want to see lots of animals easily, go to the excellent Guadalajara Zoo.

KAYAKING
Kayaking is best on Lake Chapala. Good launching spots dot the lake’s northwest side around Chapala, Ajijic, and San Juan Cosala. Prepared kayakers could spend a whole week enjoying an idyllic Lake Chapala paddling and shore camping adventure. Serious paddlers should bring their own kayak and gear; little equipment is locally available.

BALNEARIOS
Except for Balneario Lindo Michoacán downtown, most of the Guadalajara region’s balnearios (bathing springs) are in scenic country spots, between half an hour and an hour’s drive from the city center, all easily accessible by car, bus, or taxi. These spots are very popular and are likely to be more relaxing and tranquil on weekdays and crowded and noisy on Sundays and holidays.

Most accessible are the cool, crystalline springs at Los Camachos along Highway 54 north of town.

Near Lake Chapala, Tobolandia water toboggan park is 45 minutes south on the Chapala–Ajijic highway. At the east end of San Juan Cosala, droves of families enjoy Motel Balneario San Juan Cosala, a complex of natural warm-spring swimming pools and sports facilities.

A few miles away from Acatlán town, in Villa Corona village, natural warm spring Chimulco offers lavish, shaded facilities. The nearby Agua Caliente, one hour southwest of the city, offers about the same.

At La Venta, in the Bosque de Primavera forest reserve, three country balnearios offer relaxation in the naturally warm waters of the Río Caliente. The best developed is the Balneario Cañon de las Flores. Farther along the dirt access road, Balneario Las Tinajitas and another farther on (even more rustic) are more tranquil; 45 minutes west of the city, off of Highway 15, about seven miles (11 kilometers) west of the periférico (peripheral boulevard).

A couple of miles west of Tequila, a pair of balnearios offer relaxing water diversions at the tropical edge of the Barranca (canyon of the Río Santiago) about an hour and 15 minutes west of the city. Guests at the very popular Balneario La Toma enjoy a pair of big shaded pools (one of which is fed from a cliffside cave) perched on the airy canyon rim. The nearby Balneario Paraíso offers a small shaded swimming and wading pool, a bit of space for camping, and all the mangoes you can eat in season.

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TENT AND RV CAMPING
Although camping in lower elevation tropical zones requires no sleeping bag, mountain and winter camping in most of the Guadalajara region does. A compact tent that you and your partner can share is a must against bugs, as is mosquito repellent. A first-aid kit is absolutely necessary.

Few, if any, official public campgrounds are available in the Guadalajara region. However, unofficial camping areas (with no facilities whatsoever—bring everything) exist on some communally owned forest lands. One of the most accessible and pristine is the Bosque de Primavera, off old Highway 15, at La Venta, about 15 minutes by car or bus west of the periférico . You have a choice of tenting beneath the pines or beside the bathtub-warm Río Caliente.

Other areas ripe for camping are around Tapalpa. Weekenders customarily set up tents in the forest along Tapalpa’s highway approaches (especially around the pine-clad summit between Atemajac de Brizuela and Tapalpa). Another popular Tapalpa camping spot is the scenic Las Piedrotas meadowlands preserve a few miles outside of town. A fence limits access to foot traffic, so be prepared to carry your gear in for about a quarter mile. Furthermore, if the water level (late summer–early fall) is high enough, camping, fishing, and boating opportunities might be available at the Presa del Nogal, a reservoir and dam about four miles (seven kilometers) south of town.