Calvillo, Aguascalientes, Pueblo Mágico

Calvillo, Aguascalientes

If you head northward from central Mexico, roughly following the famed Camino Real (the “Silver Route”), you’ll pass near the enchanting town of Calvillo.  An official Pueblo Mágico, Cavillo occupies a broad valley just over a mountain range to the west of the Capital City of Aguascalientes.  Calvillo is more than a town-it’s a municipality that includes a broad region of mountains, forests, and lakes that include waterfalls and recreation areas. Small villages dot the countryside like jewels in a little garden. 

 

Illustrative Plan, Plaza Principal, Calvillo

Bandstand (kiosk), Plaza Principal, Calvillo 

Calvillo will appear in one of my future ‘”Painting Mexico” books. It is a magical town ideal not only for its beauty (landscape painting and photography), but also for hiking, camping and enjoyment of its culture…foods, handicrafts, parades and other events.  I highly recommend camping on the lake near the village of Malpaso, a 20-minute ride from central Calvillo. Here at this picturesque, mountain surrounded lake, you'll find cabins (casitas) for rent, as well as hotel rooms and a few lakeside restaurants. (I spent several days in one of the casitas, as shown in the lake view below).  One could easily spend an entire summer painting in this one location. 

The Lake, la Presa de Malpaso. 

The nearby village of Malpaso also offers many painting opportunities.  Tucked in a narrow agricultural valley, the town has dozens on paintable locations, including the plaza principal and the streets that extend from there.  Below is a map/plan that I made of this plaza.  The arrows show the locations for making great paintings. 

Illustrative Plan, Plaza Principal Malpaso, Cavillo

View of the Church, Community of Malpaso

In the mountains about 20 miles west of Calvillo is a conservation area known as la Sierra del Laurel.  Here, you'll find a lake from which spills a spectacular waterfall, with a cave at its base (see photo below).  There are several rentable casitas at the edge of this lake, an alluring place to relax, hike and paint.  

The lake on la Sierra del Laurel. This scenic lake is a painters' paradise. 

View of a Cave at the Waterfall (la Cascada), located about 25 miles west of Calvillo  Centro.