The Story Behind Santa Maria Expeditions

My name is Derek Larson, and I am the founder of Santa Maria Expeditions.

Originally from Rochester, New York, I found my way to the mountains of central Mexico and eventually made the Sierra Gorda my home. What began as a desire to explore an unfamiliar part of Mexico gradually became a way of life and eventually, a profession.

Before Mexico, my life looked very different.

I retired from the United States Army and later worked as a military consultant specializing in reconnaissance operations. I learned to pay attention to the details of a landscape: how a trail disappears, how terrain changes, where a river can be crossed, and how to find a way forward when there isn't an obvious route.

In 2016, I arrived in the Sierra Gorda with my family, a few belongings, and a desire to explore the region.

I quickly realized that the Sierra Gorda was much more than the handful of destinations that most visitors knew about. Beyond the missions, waterfalls and viewpoints were enormous areas of rugged mountains, deep canyons, remote communities, rivers and forgotten trails.

So, I started exploring.

At first, many of these trips were simply personal adventures. I followed old trails, talked with people in remote communities, studied maps and sometimes set out alone to see where a path would take me. Over the years, I began connecting pieces of old routes and discovering ways through the mountains that weren't marked on conventional maps.

The Río Santa María became a particularly important part of that exploration.

The river passes through San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato and Querétaro, cutting through some remarkably rugged and remote country. Many of my multi-day adventures take place along the river, on the river itself, or deep inside the canyons it has carved through the mountains.

It is also the reason I chose the name Santa Maria Expeditions.

For me, the river represents much of what I love about exploring this region. It crosses boundaries between states and communities, moves through landscapes that can be difficult to access, and offers endless opportunities for exploration. Depending on the route and the season, an adventure might involve hiking along the riverbank, scrambling through a canyon, crossing the water, or traveling directly on the river by packraft or another small craft.

But the river is only part of the story.

Over the years, my explorations have taken me far beyond established tourist routes. Some trails have taken years to understand. Others have required returning again and again under different conditions to determine whether a route is practical and safe.

I've learned that discovering a route is only the beginning.

A good adventure has to be explored, refined, documented and, when appropriate, shared.

That philosophy eventually became Santa Maria Expeditions.

Today, I lead private hikes and adventures throughout the Sierra Gorda and surrounding regions. Some are traditional mountain hikes. Others involve rivers, remote communities, old paths, canyons or a combination of all of them.

Projects such as Caminos Ancestrales de los Xi'uiy, Expedition Xichú, Tres Estados, and El Avatar reflect the kind of adventures I enjoy most: routes where the landscape is part of the story and where getting there is every bit as important as arriving.

I'm not interested in simply taking people to the places that are already famous.

There is nothing wrong with the popular destinations, but I believe the Sierra Gorda has another side. A wilder, quieter and much less explored side. That is the side that continues to keep me interested after more than a decade of exploring here.

And I'm still exploring.

There are trails I haven't followed, canyons I haven't entered, sections of the Río Santa María I haven't traveled, and mountains I haven't crossed. Every year brings another map, another conversation with a local resident, another faint trail disappearing into the forest.

That's what keeps me coming back.

Stories from the Sierra Gorda is where I will share some of those experiences and the places I've discovered, the people I've met, the routes I've explored and the adventures that have shaped my life here.

Because sometimes the best stories begin where the road ends.