Miraflores, a small ranching community about 45 minutes north of San José del Cabo, officially became a Pueblo Histórico de México on July 2026 during the opening ceremony of the 34th annual Fiesta de la Pitaya. Governor Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío presented the designation, making Miraflores the ninth community in Baja California Sur to receive the federal historic town label. For anyone living in or visiting Los Cabos, the designation puts a long-overlooked day-trip destination on Mexico’s national tourism map.
Pueblo Histórico Label Has Brought Investment to Eight Other BCS Towns
The Pueblo Histórico de México program is a federal designation managed through Mexico’s tourism and cultural agencies. It recognizes communities that have preserved their architectural heritage, traditions, and natural surroundings. Towns that receive the label become eligible for federal funding aimed at infrastructure upgrades, signage, cultural preservation, and tourism promotion through national channels.
Eight other communities in Baja California Sur already hold the designation. They include El Triunfo, a former silver mining town about 50 kilometers south of La Paz, and San Bartolo, a mountain settlement known for its fruit orchards along the Sierra de la Laguna. In El Triunfo, the Pueblo Histórico label helped fund restoration of the town’s 19th-century smokestack and a small museum. It also attracted private investment in cafés and galleries that now draw weekend visitors from both La Paz and Los Cabos.
Miraflores sits along the Transpeninsular Highway (Highway 1) in the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna, within the municipality of Los Cabos. The town traces its roots to the Jesuit mission era. Missionaries established an outpost in the area during the 18th century, and ranching families settled the surrounding valleys in the decades that followed. Today the community has roughly 3,000 residents and remains one of the best-preserved examples of traditional ranchero culture in southern Baja.
Leather Workshops and Hot Springs Draw Visitors From Los Cabos
Miraflores is best known for its leather artisans. Several family-run talleres (workshops) along the main road produce hand-tooled belts, saddles, wallets, and huarache sandals using techniques passed down through generations. Prices run well below resort-town rates. A hand-tooled leather belt that might cost 1,500 pesos (about $75 USD) in Cabo San Lucas sells for 400 to 600 pesos ($20 to $30 USD) at source in Miraflores.
About 10 kilometers east of town, the natural hot springs at Agua Caliente offer a second reason to visit. The springs emerge from the granite foothills at temperatures around 40°C (104°F) and feed a series of rock pools popular with hikers. The area sits at the edge of the Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve, a protected mountain range that shelters oak and pine forests above the surrounding desert.
The town also serves as a gateway for hikers heading into the sierra. Trails leading from nearby ranches reach elevations above 2,000 meters and pass through some of the most biodiverse terrain on the peninsula. Local guides can be arranged through businesses in Miraflores or Santiago, a neighboring community about 15 minutes south.
Fiesta de la Pitaya Celebrates Native Cactus Fruit With Burro Races
The Pueblo Histórico ceremony took place during the opening of the 34th Fiesta de la Pitaya, an annual celebration of the pitaya, the bright magenta fruit of the organ pipe cactus native to the Baja peninsula. The fruit ripens in late June and July and has been a staple of the regional diet since pre-colonial times. Rancheros historically timed their summer routines around the pitaya harvest.
The 2026 festival featured craft exhibitions from regional artisans, a comelón de pitayas (pitaya-eating contest), burro races, traditional dances, parades, and live regional music. Miranda I was crowned as the community’s festival queen during the opening ceremony. Governor Castro Cosío also unveiled large decorative letters spelling “Miraflores” at the town entrance and donated a vehicle for local public services.
José Manuel Larumbe Pineda, acting as first council member serving in the role of municipal president by law for Los Cabos, attended the event alongside Patricia I. López Navarro, honorary president of SEDIF, the state family services agency.
The Fiesta de la Pitaya typically runs for several days in early July. Miraflores is reachable from San José del Cabo by driving north on Highway 1 for about 40 kilometers. No toll is required, and the road is well-paved. The next step for the town will be applying for specific federal tourism infrastructure funds now available under its new Pueblo Histórico status, according to the Baja California Sur state government.