Our trip was taken in late May, 2000
The drive from Hermosillo to Creel is, if done in a single day, very long. We totally underestimated the task of crossing the Sierra Madre mountain range. We thought we could save a bit of time by taking a "short cut" between Basaseachic and San Juanito. This was a mistake. Although the road started out fine (it was even paved for a very short distance), it deteriorated rapidly into a very uneven, winding, rocky and deeply rutted road of the type that demands constant concentration. Some sections of this road demanded speeds of about 5-10 MPH or you risk blowing a tire, cracking your oil pan, or just crashing down the mountainside. This was a very stressful drive made even worse because by the time we got to the worst part of the "road" it was completely dark (except for more stars than either of us had ever seen in our lifetimes). I don't recall encountering any other vehicles (or other signs of human life) along this route except for one dwelling visible in our headlights at a point we stopped (in desperation) to nap. As it turned out, that point was, in fact, very close to the village of San Juanito - and what a sight it was!

A drive from the city of Chihuahua is much shorter (although not as scenic). In any case, rent a high clearance  vehicle. The bigger the diameter of the tires the better. Four wheel drive is not necessary unless you really plan to go off-road (and as far as we know, it's virtually impossible to rent a 4X4 in Mexico anyway). If you do get to choose between a four wheel drive and a two wheel drive with better clearance definitely go for the better clearance - remember you want to be able to navigate very uneven rocky areas! We had a Dodge Ram Van and it took a lot of punishment with few complaints.

Don't arrive in Creel too late (before 10 PM is probably allright). Creel is a small town that retires early. We got there too late and had to sleep in our van - had to wake up several times to start it up and run the heater. It gets cold (guessing somewhere in the forties) up there at 8,000 ft.. Earlier in the day we stuck our trusty Kestrel™ thermometer out into the wind through the window of the van and got a reading of 107°F !

Except for the horrible section of road described in the first paragraph, most of the other roads we took were very good. Worthy of special mention is the unbelievably great road from Cusarare down into the Canyon - hats off to the Mexican highway engineers! Although the paved section of this road only goes about two thirds of the way to Batopilas, it is truly an amazing achievment.

If you plan (we did) to visit Cusarare Falls , allow an extra hour (we didn't) for hiking time. You can't approach the Falls with your vehicle.

The Tarahumara seem to be an extreemly friendly people who tend to be quite shy. They are truly fascinating. We really would have loved to have had more time and visit some of the smaller habitations in the area.