We took the road to Durango at Christmas on our way to Mazatlan. Libre from Monterrey to Saltillo (very good condition and scenic), toll from Saltillo to Torreon and then switched to the libre. Spent the night on the libre side of the toll booth at Leon Guzman in an almost empty strip mall with a Pemex (stayed there coming and going with free wifi at the service station across the street).
From there on we took the libre until we got closer to the bridge because the toll road to Durango is now 12 years old and under a lot of maintenance. The bridge and tunnel system is a true engineering feat and I recommend it to anyone.
On the return trip we took the Espinazo del Diablo and found it to be in very very good condition and the sightseeing was awesome. We found nice pull outs for lunch in the woods. We will take it both ways next time.
In the state of Durango we stayed at a state park, El Tecuan for 50 pesos a night. They have cabin rentals, a ranger who lives at the gated entrance. He had us park on the basketball court as it was winter and very few people. Woke up to -9C.
Took the libre all the way back to Monterrey. We're pretty much finished with toll roads as we have found most libres to be in good condition. We passed through the city of Durango for gas.
