On the Road South - In the Morning Light
Valle de los Cirios
The Valley of the Candles is a Protected Area of Flora and Fauna in the municipality of Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico. This site was declared a protected natural area on 2 June 1980. With its 2,521,776 hectares (9,736.63 sq mi), is the area of Plant Protection and largest of Mexico Fauna, the second protected natural area of Mexico for full extension behind only El Vizcaino, but the largest in land area and one of the largest protected natural areas in the world.
It is characterized by scrub and desert landscapes associated with large nuclei candles. Unlike popular belief, this is not a bleak scenario, but an area with a large conservation and integrity, defined by its high level of endemism, which includes abundant concentrations of cacti, reptiles and large mammals. The Valley of the Cirios is since 2004 in the Tentative List of Mexico, to be named World Heritage Site.
