The name of this Sierra is related to the name of a "People's Visit" small temporary chapel founded in the top of these mountains and was under the jurisdiction of the Jesuit Mission of San Ignacio Kadakamaang. Cultural Importance The importance of the Sierra de San Francisco lies in the numerous rock paintings style "Great Mural" which concentrates especially in intermountain 12 spectacular canyons. Thanks to the geological nature of the mountains and the dry climate, its condition is very good, sometimes finding huge panels with hundreds and even thousands of brightly painted figures. The style is essentially realistic and is dominated by human figures and terrestrial and marine fauna designed in red, black, white and yellow. Also abound petroglyphs sites. The rock art is just one of the elements that make up this extraordinary and ancient cultural landscape. The archaeological investigation of these paintings can postulate that make up a segment of material culture, a meta legitimized distinctive feature representing the symbolic use of certain elements of reality and shows how indigenous societies perceived the events that happened in their world and how the they ordered and accounted for; well, iconography expressed on rock art is a symbolic capital that was relevant to the processes of visual construction of the social identities of these groups. The rock art of the Sierra de San Francisco is a cultural tradition that developed over millennia; datings of the paintings have a length of at least 7500 years AP When the indigenous population was eliminated, the sites remained intact until the late nineteenth century when the repopulation of the mountains. The integrity of the rock art sites and their surroundings have maintained a high percentage of their primitive conditions due to activities related to the isolation and low population density prevailing in the region circumstances.

Hours: 8: 00 to 17:00.

Book and plan a visit to the canyons above is required.

Contact: Dr. Maria de la Luz Gutierrez Martinez, head of the archaeological site SSF-BCS INAH Center.. Tel (612) 12 27389 and (612) 12 30399.

The SSF is an isolated region lacks roads. Visit the most relevant sites require transit bridle paths, mule or on foot, in the latter case, only a very good physical condition and know have overcome rough terrain. You need to camp.

You enter by the way to San Francisco de la Sierra, high in the mountains, or by leading to the southern Valle de Santa Martha. The cave paintings are far from these villages and spend the night in the canyons requires at least three days; in the mountains there are only "dirt roads" is why it is necessary to rent mounts and beasts of burden for transporting people, equipment and food. This unique logistics requires advance planning and timely shipments, reserve space camp and advance notice to the guides-carriers of the Sierra. This is done through information module located in San Ignacio, BCS, the closest village to the mountains. Services available in the area: In the Information Module visitors are channeled into different levels of access. Reservation System enables planning of shipments and controlling access to guns. It has restrooms and a photographic exhibition room where an overview of the archeology of the Sierra de San Francisco and the reproduction of a sector of Painted Cave, one of the best places shown. In the villages from where the expeditions is assigned to the guide-carriers responsible for "guiding them" as well as the custodians of INAH who will serve as supervisors and support visits Level III, higher degree of difficulty.