General Information

Chapultepec Park, more commonly called the ‘Bosque de Chapultepec’ (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is the largest city park in Latin America, measuring in total over 686 hectares. Centred on a rock formation called Chapultepec Hill, one of the park’s main functions is to be an ecological space in the city.

Additional Information

The name ‘Chapultepec’ means ‘at the grasshopper hill’ in Nahuatl and refers to a large rock formation that is the centre of the current park’s ‘first section’. Chapultepec is classed as one of the world’s great urban parks, along with Bois de Boulogne in Paris, the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo and Central Park in New York City. It contains nine museums, amusement parks, winding paths, commemorative sculptures, lakes and fountains. Paseo de la Reforma passes most of the park and cuts through a portion on the north side.

It is considered the first and most important of Mexico City’s ‘lungs’, with trees that replenish oxygen to the Valley of Mexico. The park area has been inhabited and held as special since the pre-Hispanic period, when it served as a retreat for Aztec rulers. In the colonial period, the Chapultepec Castle would be built here, eventually becoming the official residence of Mexican heads of state. It would remain such until 1940, when it was moved to another part of the park called Los Pinos.

Today, the park is divided into three sections, with the first one being the oldest and most visited. This section contains most of the park’s attractions including its zoo, the Museum of Anthropology, Rufino Tamayo Museum and more. It receives an estimated 15 million visitors per year. This prompted the need for major rehabilitation efforts which began in 2005 and ended in 2010.

For Mexico City residents, the park is valued as a cultural and historic area as well as a green space. The area has vestiges showing human presence as far back as the Toltecs with a number of ruins from both the pre-Hispanic and the colonial period.

Archaeological studies have unearthed and identified tombs associated with Teotihuacan, a Toltec altar on the summit of the Chapultepec Hill, vestiges of a colonial era aqueduct, paths associated with Nezahualcoyotl and an area where Aztec priests ingested peyote as part of religious rites.

One notable site is the Baths of Moctezuma, or systems of tanks, reservoirs, canals and waterfalls constructed by the Aztecs.
The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia has the park, as well as the Castle of Chapultepec on the hill listed as Mexican heritage sites, and has submitted the area for consideration as a World Heritage Site.

Species: Highlights

Chapultepec is home for a number of plant and animal species. Over two hundred of the latter live in the Chapultepec Zoo, but some roam all over the place.

Species: Explained

The park is a refuge for migratory birds from Canada, the U.S. and other regions of Mexico, including the red-tailed falcon, the Harris falcon, wild ducks, geese, and others. From 38 to 60 species of birds can be found here including some native non-migratory species such as the Yucatán canary and a type of heron called the ‘water dog’.

There are also more than a dozen species of reptiles and amphibians, and a number of species of all types that are in danger of extinction including the axolotl, mexcalpique, alandrias, the carpenter bird and the white-tailed hummingbird.

The park is home to a large number of Montezuma cypress trees, locally called ‘ahuehuete’, with some of them hundreds years old, and even planted by the Aztecs. There are also 165 other species, mostly in the third section. The city authorities estimate that 100 million pesos are needed annually to maintain the ecology of the park.

Visitors: Highlights

The park receives an estimated 15 million visitors each year, and daily visits have exceeded 250,000.Sunday is the most popular day to visit as the museums are free, and many Mexican families will spend the entire day in one or more sections, walking, seeing the attractions and picnicking or grilling.

First Section: Highlights

The oldest and most visited portion of the park is called the ‘first section’. It is the most developed area with a wrought iron fence and gates that extend around its perimeter. The area measures 274.03 hectares, 182 of which form an undeveloped green space.

First Section: Explained

It contains most of the best known of the park’s attractions such as the Lago Menor (Small Lake), the Nezahualcoyotl Fountain, the Fuente de las Ranas, the Quixote Fountain, the Templanza Fountain, the Altar a la Patria, the Niños Héroes Obelisk, the Monumento a las Águilas Caídas (Monument to Fallen Eagles), the Ahuehuete and the Baths of Moctezuma.

The best known museums are here as well including Museo Nacional de Historia-Chapultepec Castle, the Casa del Lago (UNAM), the Auditorio Nacional, the Centro Cultural del Bosque, the Museo de Antropologia, the Rufino Tamayo Museum and the Modern Art Museum. The first section also contains the zoo, the Jardin de Tercera Edad and the Audiorama.

These are connected by various paved paths, many of which have names such as the Avenue of the Poets, lined with bronze busts of famous literary figures. Moreover, it has living trees that are hundreds of years old.

This section of the park also contains the geological formation that gave the park/forest its name: Chapultepec Hill. It is a formation of volcanic rock and andesite, which is common in the Valley of Mexico and contains small caves and sand deposits.

‘Chapultepec’ in Nahuatl means ‘grasshopper hill’ but it is not clear whether the ‘Chapul’ (grasshopper) part refers to the shape of the hill, or the abundance of grasshoppers in the surrounding woods.

Second Section: Highlights

The second section was created in 1964 by taking over the lands which used to be a farm. It is separated from the first section by the Anillo Periférico road and measures 160.02 hectares. It is not as developed as the first section but it is dedicated to recreational activities, too. It is estimated that 1,000 people come here to exercise each day.

Second Section: Explained

The section contains the Lago Mayor lake, which includes the Monumental Fountain, the largest in Latin America and is surrounded by several restaurants and cafés. Nearby are the Compositores, Xochipilli and Las Serpientes fountains. The area has several jogging trails, places for yoga and karate and other exercise facilities among the trees. The jogging trails were doubled from 2 km to 4 km in the late 2000s.

One part of this section is dominated by the Feria de Chapultepec amusement park, located near the Lago Mayor, just off the Anillo Periférico. The park has a capacity of 15,000 people and is visited by about 2 million each year. It has several roller coasters including the Montaña Infinitum, which contains three loops.

Museums such as El Papalote, the Museo Tecnológico de la CFE and the Museo de Historia Natural are located in this section.

Third section: Highlights

The third section, inaugurated in 1974, is the least developed and least known area, filled with wildlife and silence. Although some recreational activities are practised here, the site is primarily an ecological preserve for various species, such as snakes and lizards. In 2010, there were reports of feral dogs attacking visitors.