Necaxa River

The Río Necaxa, or Necaxa River, is one of the main rivers of the Mexican state of Puebla. Beginning south of Huauchinango with the name Totolapa, it runs through tall mountains and deep canyons forming the waterfalls known as Salto Chico y Salto Grande; its flow is also used for generation of hydroelectric power.

The Necaxa River rises in the state of Puebla and extends to Veracruz. Together with four other rivers: El Tejocotal, Los Reyes, Patla, and Tenango, Necaxa produces a total of 172 million litres of water generating electrical power not only for Puebla, but for the states of Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, Estado de México and the Federal District, in addition to many people in the center of the country; The Necaxa is located inside Puebla, and feeds the Tepexi River, that runs to the west of the state, and constitutes one of the flows of the Necaxa, which travels through a tunnel to the Río de Patla, serving various municipalities of the Northern Mountain Range, such as Patla y Chicontla, then enters the state of Veracruz, where it traverses the municipalities of Cuahuitlán, Coyutla, El Espinal, Papantla, Gutiérrez Zamora and Tecolutla, increasing its volume upon uniting with other forks, forming the Río Tecolutla, which flows out to the Gulf of Mexico in the municipality of the same name.

The River's use

The Necaxa River is not known for activities such as adventure tourism, as it is usable only by people trained in the discipline.

• Access

From Mexico City, take the Mexico-Tuxpan road and drive to Tulancingo. Then drive to Huauchinango with final destination to "El Salto" (the location of a CFE's hydroelectric plant).

• Navigability

This single river is adapted for navigation, as the generating plant opens its floodgates to the full flow of the river to permit boats to pass against the current.

The Necaxa is a Class III River.

• The path

The river's route offers beautiful views of the landscapes in its creeks.

• Disembarcing

One disembarks in the town of Chicontla. It is necessary to load the boats approximately 750 before the centre of the town to be able to access other transport.