Nayarit coffee route: Xalisco, the sierra and San Blas

The Nayarit coffee route runs through the coffee country west and south of Tepic: Xalisco, the slopes of the Sierra de San Juan and the villages on the descent to the San Blas coast, such as Jalcocotán and Mecatán. It is a loop of about 90 km (56 miles) that you can drive in a day from Tepic, with under 2 hours behind the wheel, shade-grown coffee farms, café de olla (coffee simmered in a clay pot with cinnamon and raw sugar) on the town square and views of the Cebadilla volcano.

The timing is good: on March 3, 2026, Mexico’s official gazette published the “Café Nayarit” Denomination of Origin, which protects arabica coffee from four municipalities (Compostela, Ruiz, San Blas and Xalisco) and covers about 2,367 growers. Two of them, Xalisco and San Blas, are the heart of this route.

A quick correction, because wrong information circulates online: Nayarit’s coffee country is not “east of Tepic,” and it is not in Jala. Jala is a Pueblo Mágico (an officially designated “Magical Town”) in the south of the state, known for its corn and the Ceboruco volcano, but it is not part of the coffee designation. Nayarit coffee grows in the mountains west of the capital and in the northern Sierra Madre (Ruiz), which is beyond the reach of this one-day loop.

Where coffee grows in Nayarit

Recent academic studies put Nayarit’s coffee area at 16,000–19,000 hectares, with nearly 4,000 registered growers, almost all of them small farms on steep volcanic slopes. The climate sets the calendar: it rains from July to September and the dry season runs from October to June, which makes picking and sun-drying easier.

• Xalisco: Tepic’s next-door municipality, with the Sierra de San Juan (2,240 m / 7,350 ft at the top) to the west. The coffee route promoted by Nayarit’s state tourism office starts here, and coffee villages such as Cofradía de Chocolón and El Malinal are in this municipality.
• Tepic (El Izote): a village on the slopes of the Sierra de San Juan, on Highway 76, with coffee groves you can walk through.
• San Blas (Jalcocotán and Mecatán): villages on the way down to the coast, among coffee and fruit orchards at the foot of the Cebadilla volcano.
• Compostela and Ruiz: also inside the designation; Ruiz, in the northern mountains, has been one of the state’s top producers in recent years.

How to get to the Nayarit coffee route

Your base is Tepic. If you are coming from out of state, see how to get to Nayarit; the city has an airport (TPQ) and sits on the 15D toll highway. You need a car for this route: there are minibuses from Tepic to Xalisco and to Jalcocotán, but they do not link the stops to each other.

From	To	Approx. distance	Approx. time	Road
Tepic (downtown)	Xalisco	7 km (4 mi)	12–15 min	Tepic–Xalisco boulevard
Guadalajara	Tepic	205 km (127 mi)	2 h 40 min–3 h	15D toll highway
Puerto Vallarta	Tepic	170 km (106 mi)	1 h 45 min–2 h 30 min	Jala–Puerto Vallarta highway or Highway 200
San Blas	Mecatán	26 km (16 mi)	30 min	Tepic–San Blas highway
Compostela	Tepic	38 km (24 mi)	40 min	Highway 200

One-day coffee route itinerary

The loop goes from Xalisco up into the mountains on Highway 76 (Tepic–Miramar), drops to Jalcocotán, takes the Mecatán spur road and returns to Tepic on the San Blas highway. It adds up to about 90 km and roughly 1 h 45 min of driving, leaving plenty of time to walk, eat and taste coffee.

Approx. time	Leg / stop	Leg distance	Driving time	What to do
8:00	Tepic → Xalisco	7 km	12–15 min	Breakfast and café de olla near the square
9:30	Xalisco → El Izote (via Highway 76)	14 km	20 min	Walk through coffee groves on the Sierra de San Juan
11:30	El Izote → Jalcocotán	22 km	25 min	Descent through forest and coffee; coffee and lunch in town
14:30	Jalcocotán → Mecatán (Mecatán spur)	12 km	20 min	Coffee village below the Cebadilla; buy beans from growers
17:00	Mecatán → Tepic	34 km	35 min	Back on the Tepic–San Blas highway

Driving times exclude stops. Highway 76 has tight curves between El Izote and Jalcocotán, so avoid it after dark if you don’t know it.

Xalisco: breakfast and café de olla

Xalisco sits at 984 m (3,230 ft), 7 km from downtown Tepic, with a square, a church and a small-town pace. It is the natural starting point: breakfast with café de olla and, if you booked ahead, a visit to a nursery or mill where they explain dry processing, the step that separates the bean from its husk before roasting. The municipality’s coffee villages, such as Cofradía de Chocolón and El Malinal, are about 25 km away on mountain roads; go only with a grower who is expecting you.

El Izote: coffee on the Sierra de San Juan

From Tepic, head west on Avenida Insurgentes and continue on Highway 76 toward Miramar. Past El Aguacate you reach El Izote, about 8 km from downtown, on the slopes of the Sierra de San Juan, a state biosphere reserve since 1987. A walk among shade-grown coffee shrubs shows you the plant, the cherries and how a grove is tended. If you want adventure, the park behind the Kilómetro X route is in El Aguacate.

Jalcocotán: the village on the way down

Jalcocotán, in the municipality of San Blas, sits at about 425 m (1,400 ft), surrounded by orchards and coffee. It is a good place for lunch and for buying coffee roasted by local families. Ten kilometers farther down is Tecuitata canyon, which has its own canyoning route; if you want both, save the coffee for a second day.

Mecatán and the Cebadilla volcano

The Mecatán spur leaves Highway 76 just past Jalcocotán. Mecatán is a coffee village at the foot of the Cebadilla volcano, a cone of about 860 m (2,820 ft) you can hike in 2–3 hours through coffee groves. From here the highway takes you back to Tepic in 35 minutes or to the San Blas coast in 30.

Season: when to do the coffee route

You can visit year-round, but what you see changes with the months. Picking happens in the dry season, and in Nayarit it can run until April, later than in other coffee states.

Months	On the farm	Roads and weather
November–April	Picking ripe cherries and sun-drying the beans	Dry; cool mornings in the hills (12–13 °C / 54–55 °F lows in Xalisco, Dec–Feb)
May–June	End of harvest; flowering with the first rains	Hottest months; start early
July–October	Green cherries on the branches, lush groves	Rain July to September; muddy dirt roads and fog on Highway 76

To plan the rest of your trip, see the best time to visit Nayarit.

Tips for the route

• Book farm visits: groves and mills are family-run and most receive visitors by appointment. Without one you can wander the villages and buy coffee, but not enter the groves.
• Carry cash: cards are not always accepted in Jalcocotán and Mecatán.
• Dress in layers: mornings are cool in the hills and Mecatán is hot by noon. Wear closed shoes for the groves.
• Ask before photographing people or drying patios; these are workplaces.
• Designation labels: coffee sold under the designation must carry the “Denominación de Origen Protegida” legend and IMPI authorization; beans bought straight from a grower may not carry it even if they come from the zone.

Turning it into a weekend

Stay in Tepic or San Blas. On day two you can hike the Cebadilla from Mecatán early, do Tecuitata canyon with a guide or take the La Tovara route by boat through the mangroves. If you prefer the city, the historic Tepic route rounds out the trip, and our guide to traditional Nayarit dishes tells you what to eat. Find lodging in our directory.

Frequently asked questions

Area map

1. 1
   Xalisco Route start, 984 m; breakfast and café de olla.21.4516, -104.8988 · Open in Google Maps
2. 2
   El Izote Tepic. Coffee groves on the Sierra de San Juan, Highway 76.21.5224, -104.962 · Open in Google Maps
3. 3
   Jalcocotán San Blas. Orchard and coffee village at 425 m.21.4804, -105.0995 · Open in Google Maps
4. 4
   Mecatán San Blas. Coffee village below the Cebadilla volcano.21.5365, -105.1202 · Open in Google Maps
5. 5
   Cebadilla volcano San Blas. Cone of about 860 m; 2–3 h to the top from Mecatán.21.5099, -105.121 · Open in Google Maps
6. 6
   Cofradía de Chocolón Xalisco. Mountain coffee village; visit with a grower.21.3647, -104.9793 · Open in Google Maps