The Sierra de Los Tuxtlas (Tuxtlas Mountains) are a volcanic belt and mountain range along the southeastern Veracruz Gulf coast in Eastern Mexico. The Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve (Biósfera Los Tuxtlas) includes the coastal and higher elevations of the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas.

The Sierra del Los Tuxlas

This range of volcanic mountains have been used as a source of Basalt rock by the indigenous people from about 1500 BCE until 400 BCE, quarried basalt which was transported by rafts through a network of rivers to sites in the Olmec heartland for the purpose of creating monuments, including colossal heads.

Mountain peaks in this range include Volcano Santa Marta at 4,921 feet (1,500 meters) and Volcano San Martín Tuxtla at 5,410 feet (1,650 meters). San Martín Tuxtla, is the only recently active volcano in the belt, which erupted last in 1793 though 1796 erupting and previous to that in 1664. San Martin Tuxtla is a broad alkaline shield volcano with a one kilometer wide summit crater, which contains two pyroclastic cones which were the source of the 1793-1796 eruptions. This volcano rises to viewpoints above the nearby Gulf of Mexico. Too, the flanks of this volcano are dotted with about 250 pyroclastic cones and maars, (sometimes called a maar lake or dry maar) some of which have been active in historical times.

Other extinct volcanoes include San Martion Pajapan at 3805 feet (1160 meters) and Cerro El Vigia at 2625 feet (800 meters)

This volcano is currently densely forested as part of the Tuxtlas tropical rainforests biome.

Found within the Mexican state of Veracruz, this range is an insular anomaly, meaning that these volcanoes are separated from the nearest volcanoes in the Transcontinental Volcanic Mountain region by nearly 150 miles (250 kilometers). Furthermore, the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas volcanoes are even further from the Coastal Volcanic Belt, otherwise know as the Central American Volcanic Arc, by almost 200 miles distance (330 kilometers).

Tiltépetl in English is Black Mountain

The primary indigenous group in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas region of Veracruz, Mexico, are the Popoluca, also known as Zoque-Popoluca or Mixe-Popoluca. They are considered direct descendants of the Olmecs and have been influenced by Teotihuacan, Totonaca, and Mayan cultures. While they retain many traditional practices, including language and resource management, they face challenges from demographic and economic changes.

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