Real de Catorce is one of Mexico's stranger old mining towns: a near-ghost town high in the Sierra de Catorce, reached through the narrow Ogarrio Tunnel and set among ruins, cobbled lanes, and cold desert light. Silver made it rich in the 19th century; falling prices hollowed it out after 1900.
The place has two overlapping lives. Mexican pilgrims come to the Parroquia de la Purisima Concepcion to honour San Francisco de Asis, while Wixárika pilgrims cross the surrounding desert toward Cerro Quemado and Wirikuta. Travellers come for the old mines, the silence, the Willys jeep rides, and the feeling of being somewhere cut off from ordinary Mexico.
Real is not convenient. It is cold at night, steep underfoot, and a long way from the nearest major city. That is the point. If you are already crossing the northern plateau, it is worth the detour.