Parque Cañitas

Parque Cañitas is a fairly large park in the Colonia Popotla. It’s few ahuehuete trees are not nearly so large as the Tree of the Victorious Night, just up the Calzada de Mexico-Tacuba. Nevertheless, the park is important for providing something of the impression of old Popotla as the first mainland settlement after the long causeway from Mexico City in the east.

It’s a neighborhood center and a well-used urban public space. With multiple sports training areas, it also kids’ areas and benches for grown-ups. There’s also a cool Faro de Saber, a “lighthouse of knowledge” with an outdoor forum.  Much of the surrounding neighborhood, south and west of the park, was built by or for the Colegio Militar. It retains some of the early 20th-century brick style and character, and can make for a nice stroll.

The Parque Cañitas neighborhood eventually gives way to the broader Anahuac area. It can seem to go on forever with crooked streets, corner street shrines, and unpredictable street tianguis in seemingly every direction. It’s a wonderful part of the city. If you’re just taking a break from learning the causeway, it’s a perfectly nice place to stop and rest.