Cuatro Ciénegas Overview

By Christopher Minster

Cuatro Ciénegas is a tiny town (population roughly 12,000) in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. Cuatro Ciénegas means “four marshes” and it is named for the swampy wetlands formed by the numerous pools and ponds that can be found in the area.  The full name of the town is “Cuatro Ciénegas de Carranza,” named after Venustiano Carranza, an important Mexican Revolution general and former president who was born there in 1859.

Cuatro Ciénegas is gaining fame as a visitor destination. The area is famous for great biological diversity: by some estimates, there is greater diversity in the Cuatro Ciénegas area than anywhere else in North America. It has a great number of endemic plant and animal species, many of which inhabit the pools and ponds for which the town is famous. In order to protect these species, Mexico declared the area a protected reserve in 1994.

Poza Azul and Las Arenales are two pools that can be visited in order to see some of these special species, and Poza La Becerra is open for swimming.