Eco-Culture
Alamos lies in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental, where the Sonoran Desert and the Tropical Deciduous Forest meet. The uniqueness of the area is in its 400 species of birds, its geography, landscape and climate.
Eco-System
Alamos lies in the most northern limits of Tropical Deciduous Forest in this hemisphere. Along the falda (skirt) of the Sierra the fingers of Tropical Deciduous Forest extend up into oak and pine – this ribbon of Dry Tropical vegetation extends along the foothills into Central America.
Alamos is uniquely located at this transition zone where the Sonoran Desert meets the coastal Thorn Scrub (Matorral) and the Tropical Deciduous Forest supporting a diverse fauna ranging from the little sighted jaguar and collared peccary/jabalí to lilac-crowned and white-fronted parrots, military macaws and trogons to a myriad of insects and interesting reptiles including the beaded lizard, neotropical whipsnake, and desert tortoise.
This forest, with a canopy of ten to twelve meters exhibits flowering trees every month of the year including the silver trunk “Palo Santo” and the colorful “Amapa” while enveloping the tall columnar cacti , “Etcho”,Organ Pipe and Pitahaya, who in the dry season appear to dominate the forest.
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has conducted tours and studies for many years to record the uniqueness of this transition zone where the tropics, the desert and the sierra meet.
The “Reserve for the Protection of Flora and Fauna, Sierra of Alamos – Rio Cuchujaqui” (92,890 Hectares/229,363 Acres) was established to protect and study this unique biosphere.
Additionally, Nature and Culture International’s Monte Mojino Reserve (ReMM), protects 15,116 acres with the focus to conserve most of the Rio Cuchujaqui watershed working alongside the local communities bordering these lands.
Geography & Climate
Álamos is located in the southeastern part of Sonora, and 396 km (246 mi) from state capital Hermosillo, 54 km (34 mi) from Navojoa via Sonora State Highway 162, and 663 km (412 mi) from the northern border town of Nogales, Arizona via International Highway 15. The State of Chihuahua is on the east, the State of Sinaloa on the south, and Sea of Cortez to the west.
In the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Alamos is at an elevation of 1,346 feet, with the Sierra de Alamos peaking at 6,700 feet.
Álamos has a semi-arid climate, with three seasons: a hot, dry season from April to June; a hot, humid wet season of Monsoons from July to October; and a warm, generally dry “winter” from November to March. Occasionally, the dry winter pattern is broken by the ‘Equipatas’ , three days or so of steady rain and gray skies.