61km (38 miles) SW of Pátzcuaro; 105km (65 miles) SW of Morelia
Uruapan has long been a commercial center for western Michoacán. It's a larger, busier town than Pátzcuaro; it's not very pretty, but it's set in some beautiful country. This is a rich agricultural area -- the avocado capital of Mexico. Coffee and pistachios are also popular cash crops. Uruapan is useful as a base for some interesting side trips, the most famous of which is to El Paricutín volcano and the lava-covered church and village near Angahuan.
