The Outdoor Recreation Program has organized its first international trip in more than three years.

And, said program coordinator Jerry Rupert, the six-day backpacking trip through Mexico’s Copper Canyon was expanded because of demand. Eighteen people are taking the trip.

Copper Canyon, located in the northwestern Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sinoloa, is popular among American backpackers and tourists alike, especially in the southwest, said Tyler Leggett, senior in aerospace engineering and trip leader.

Since the trip is not unique, Rupert said, it’s easy to get information about border crossings and other logistics from programs that do the trip often, like Northern Iowa, which traveled to Copper Canyon during Thanksgiving break.

“There’s specific things you have to have to go to another country,” Rupert said. “You have to get papers saying you’re a tourist, let them know how long you’ll be there, and get Mexican insurance on the vehicle.”

Though border crossings can be hectic, it’s the most regulated portion of the trip. Rupert said that no backcountry permits are required to hike and camp in the area.

The region collectively referred to as Copper Canyon is actually a series of seven canyons, Leggett said, covering an area larger than the Grand Canyon. While it is scenic, the landscape is also renowned for the rich culture of the native Tarahumara people whose villages are connected by trails throughout the area, he said. Three of the six leaders on the trip are proficient in Spanish, which comes in handy as visitors move away from tourist areas, said trip leader Staci Hagen, junior in political science.

“You get more respect if you know their language,” Hagen said. “People like it if you know what they’re saying in their language rather than making them struggle through yours.”

Cultural interaction enhances a trip, Rupert said, and presents opportunities that can’t be duplicated within the United States.

The week-and-a-half trip begins with two travel days, Leggett said, as the group drives to the town of Creel at the northeastern end of the canyons. After spending a night in Creel, the group will hit the trail, though the exact route remains to be finalized.

Altitude in Copper Canyon ranges from several hundred feet above sea level in the canyon bottoms to 6,000 or 7,000 feet at the rims, Leggett said.