Cholula to Huasca de Ocampo Road Trip: Route, Tolls & Stops

By admin, 3 October, 2026

The Wayro route from Cholula to Huasca de Ocampo is 105 miles (169 km), about 2 h 9 min of driving without stops.

U.S. State Department travel advisory: Puebla — Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution; Tlaxcala — Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution; Hidalgo — Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution; State of Mexico — Level 2, Exercise Increased CautionAdvisory issued May 29, 2026; checked September 29, 2026. Hidalgo is the Mexican state that contains Huasca de Ocampo. See the full advisory for current details.
Convento de HuejotzingoExconvent of Santa María MagdalenaParque nacional XicoténcatlMuseo El RehileteParque Cultural HidalguenseTeatro Hidalgo Bartolomé de MedinaPaste MuseumEl Chico National ParkCholulaHuasca de Ocampo
Route from Cholula to Huasca de Ocampo with the 8 stops listed below (blue dots).
Distance105 mi (169 km)
Driving time, no stops2 h 9 min
Main roads, in orderMEX-150 → MEX-M40D → MEX-132 → MEX-88 → MEX-105
Mexican states on the routePuebla (Level 2), Tlaxcala (Level 2), Hidalgo (Level 2), State of Mexico (Level 2)
Toll roadsMEX-M40D
Fuel estimate (car at 25 mpg)about 4.2 gal; actual use varies by vehicle and traffic
Stops listed below8

Driving this route in a car with U.S. plates

Temporary vehicle import permit (TIP)Required: this route is outside the zones where U.S.-registered cars can skip the temporary import permit (Baja California, Baja California Sur and part of Sonora)
Mexican auto insuranceRequired for all vehicles: buy a Mexican policy before you drive

Sources: U.S. State Department, Mexico travel information (updated August 11, 2026); permits are issued by Banjercito.

What the drive from Cholula to Huasca de Ocampo is like

MEX-M40D (45 mi) and MEX-88 (16 mi) carry about 58% of the 105 miles. MEX-M40D is a toll highway (cuota); MEX-150, MEX-132, MEX-88, MEX-105 are free federal roads (libre). It runs through 4 states: Puebla, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, State of Mexico. Of the 8 stops listed below, 1 are within a mile of the road.

The route from Cholula to Huasca de Ocampo, road by road

RoadRoute miles (from–to)Length, miState
local roads0–11Puebla
MEX-1501–98Puebla
local roads9–2112Puebla
MEX-M40D21–6645Puebla, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, State of Mexico
MEX-13266–704State of Mexico, Hidalgo
MEX-8870–8616Hidalgo
local roads86–893Hidalgo
MEX-10589–9910Hidalgo
local roads99–1056Hidalgo
  • Mile 25 of this route: Puebla → Tlaxcala (state line)
  • Mile 48 of this route: Tlaxcala → Hidalgo (state line)
  • Mile 56 of this route: Hidalgo → State of Mexico (state line)
  • Mile 68 of this route: State of Mexico → Hidalgo (state line)

Stops between Cholula and Huasca de Ocampo

  • Right off the route (under 1 mile): Paste Museum (mile 94)
  • Nature and outdoors: Parque nacional Xicoténcatl (mile 25), Parque Cultural Hidalguense (mile 86), El Chico National Park (mile 94)
  • Museums and history: Museo El Rehilete (mile 86), Paste Museum (mile 94)

Convento de Huejotzingo

Mile 9 · Convent · 1 mi from the route

Founded by Franciscans in the 16th century, the former convent of San Miguel Arcángel in Huejotzingo shows colonial Plateresque architecture on the western slopes of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1994.

Exconvent of Santa María Magdalena

Mile 20 · Convent · 1 mi from the route

The former convent of Santa María Magdalena (Exconvento de Santa María Magdalena) is a 17th-century Baroque church built by the Dieguino friars, still in use as a Catholic temple of the Archdiocese of Puebla.

Parque nacional Xicoténcatl

Mile 25 · National Park of Mexico · 11 mi from the route · side trip; actual detour depends on access roads

Covering roughly 600 hectares in central Tlaxcala, Xicohténcatl National Park takes in the historic center of Tlaxcala city plus Quiahuixtlán, Ocotelulco and Tepeticpac, which correspond to three of the old Tlaxcalan lordships.

Museo El Rehilete

Mile 86 · Museum · 2 mi from the route · side trip; actual detour depends on access roads

Kids head to Pachuca's interactive museum El Rehilete for its planetarium, observatory, dinosaur park, botanical garden and archaeological walk, plus a historic DC-3 airplane and a fire truck they can explore.

Parque Cultural Hidalguense

Mile 86 · Park · 2 mi from the route · side trip; actual detour depends on access roads

Formerly Parque David Ben Gurión, Pachuca's Parque Cultural Hidalguense reopened in 2025 after a major renovation, with a monumental chess board, an artificial lake with fountains, a skate park and Byron Gálvez's restored artwork known as el Pisal.

Teatro Hidalgo Bartolomé de Medina

Mile 90 · Theatre building · 2 mi from the route

The Teatro Hidalgo Bartolomé de Medina is a theater in the city of Pachuca de Soto, in the Mexican state of Hidalgo.

Paste Museum

Mile 94 · Museum · 0.2 mi from the route

The Museo del Paste in Mineral del Monte, Hidalgo, is a food museum that shares and promotes the culinary and historical legacy of the paste.

El Chico National Park

Mile 94 · National Park of Mexico · 5 mi from the route · side trip; actual detour depends on access roads

In Hidalgo, El Chico National Park is known for towering cliffs such as Las Ventanas and Peña del Cuervo, popular with climbers, and forest wildlife including gray foxes, ringtails, armadillos, hawks, falcons and woodpeckers.

When you get to Huasca de Ocampo

Basaltic Prisms of Santa María Regla

Waterfall · in Huasca de Ocampo

Basalt columns more than 40 meters tall line a ravine near Huasca de Ocampo, formed when lava cooled quickly on contact with water. Alexander von Humboldt described the Basaltic Prisms (Prismas Basálticos) after his visit in 1803.

More drives to Huasca de Ocampo

From Cholula to other places in Mexico

Frequently asked questions

How long is the drive from Cholula to Huasca de Ocampo?

About 2 h 9 min of driving without stops, over 105 miles.

How far is Huasca de Ocampo from Cholula by car?

About 105 miles (169 km) on the Wayro route. Other map services may show a few miles more or less, depending on where they start and end in each city.

Do I need a permit to drive my U.S. car from Cholula to Huasca de Ocampo?

Yes. A temporary vehicle import permit (TIP) is required for a U.S.-registered car on this route, which is outside the zones where it can be skipped. Mexican auto insurance is required for every vehicle.

Is it safe to drive from Cholula to Huasca de Ocampo?

The U.S. State Department rates Puebla Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution; Tlaxcala Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution; Hidalgo Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution; State of Mexico Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution (advisory issued May 29, 2026). Read the full advisory before you go.

What roads does the drive from Cholula to Huasca de Ocampo use?

In order: MEX-150, MEX-M40D, MEX-132, MEX-88 and MEX-105. The road-by-road table above shows the route miles and states for each one.

What are good stops between Cholula and Huasca de Ocampo?

Closest to the road: Convento de Huejotzingo (convent, mile 9, 1 mi from the route); Exconvent of Santa María Magdalena (convent, mile 20, 1 mi from the route); Paste Museum (museum, mile 94, 0.2 mi from the route). All stops are described above.

How we put this guide together

Wayro calculates the route from OpenStreetMap road data; mile numbers are positions along this route, not highway mile markers, and "from the route" distances are straight-line, so the real detour depends on access roads. Stops are chosen from parks, natural sites, museums, historic sites and attractions close to the route (roughly 2 to 7 miles depending on the type, farther for World Heritage sites): at least one strong stop for each stretch of the drive, then the best-known places nearest the road, with no more than five of one type, up to nine in all. Places that are closed, private or not open to visitors are removed. Place and city descriptions are written by the Wayro team from official park, museum, tourism and government websites and other published sources. Safety levels and entry rules were checked against the U.S. Department of State on September 29, 2026. Conditions change, so check the linked sources before you travel.

Route data © OpenStreetMap contributors.