Tiro Norte

Tiro Norte is the principle overlook point high above El Oro, the crooked old mining town in the far west of the State of Mexico. The Tiro is a reconstructed part of the mine that was used to help the miners to extract ore that was slowly refined to get at the precious metals inside. Today, the Tiro is one of the major attractions in town. It stands at the base of the road that leads up into the other external parts of the mine, and many of these are preserved in a park that takes up most of the mountain on the south side of town. The entire complex is part of the Mexico State Mining Museum which houses exhibition space up near the top. 

Nearby are also an open-air theater and a rest area should you overextend yourself with all that climbing. The tower itself features a transparent floor that lets visitors appreciate the depth of the mine shaft (493 meters divided into eight levels). The on-site museum is right at the mouth of the “La Providencia” mine. It reached some 300 meters down into the mountain below across its various levels. The mine that long produced both gold and silver began operations in the early 20th century and closed only in 1960.

The museum is housed in a small building from the end of the 19th century. Visitors get a glimpse into the history of the mining that occupied much of the region for over 300 years. The collection includes photographs, documents, and plans, many of which are originals preserved from the late 18th century. Visitors can also see photographs of the equipment and the considerable building that was necessary for these operations.

Visitors get to the Tiro Norte site in El Oro direct from Mexico City on a bus that takes about 2.5 hours. (See the El Oro entry for more details on travel.) Some others will come from the west and the similar even smaller town of Tlalpujahua. All of these sites are convenient to the famous Butterfly Sanctuaries that draw visitors from all over the world.