hiking ciclopista

The cyclopista starts at the base of the hill going out of Zihua just past the PEMEX. It goes all the way to Playa Linda, through the ecoreserve. You can do it in normal tennis with no problem. Parts are along the road, through the reserve goes behind a mountain and along an estuary. I recommend mornings. Watch the cyclists, they can be quite rude and certainly do not follow the "slow" rules.

It is a great walk, lot's of birds and wildlife along the way. If you tire you can stop most anywhere and get the bus back.

If you wanted to take a bus or taxi and not walk the hill part up from Zihua get them to drop you off just after you go under the return to Zihua overpass and the ciclopista is on the right. Stay on it and it takes you down into Los Viveros (you can see it as you start down the hill down on the right) which is very well kept and is a part of the ciclopista. If you stay on it you will eventually come out at the main road to Ixtapa by the flea market. There you can hop on a bus to Playa Linda and get off at the entrance to the reserva. Once starting on the reserva there is only the beginning and end to get out no intermediary exits. The reserva part ends at Playa Linda and you can get a bus from there back to Zihua. The choice besides the reserva is OK but follows the road and there are a few steep ups and downs.

Thanks for your help!

That's quite a long walk, Don, and I believe you would enjoy the last part the most, the part that goes from Paseo de las Garzas to Playa Linda. If you start at the Pemex station across from the Instituto Tecnológico de la Costa Grande you will be tired before reaching the top of the hill. Not to mention all the car fumes you'll breathe along the way. If I were going to make the walk I would start early in the morning as soon around 7am as possible either from the Pelícanos housing development or from the Ixtapa Palace, being sure to carry plenty of water with me. It's a long hot hike, but in the early morning you're more likely to see deer and other local fauna.

You can follow part of the walking path via Google Street View if you open up the Google Map on my Maps page in a larger window (see the link below the map) and drag the little "yellow man" into the street.

Walking from Ixtapa to Play Linda you can go around past Emillios or thru the Marina and golf course and come on Bike Path. I prefer walking to Playa Linda on the road/sidewalks/bike path rather than behind the mountain. Hills are little steeper for a better workout and you get more of a breeze off the ocean.

Tennis shoes or walking shoes are fine.