HAWC, the High Altitude Water Cherenkov gamma‐ray observatory, will be a prime instrument for surveying and monitoring the 100 GeV—100 TeV sky during the next decade. It is a major scientific collaboration between Mexico and United States and will be located at Volcan Sierra Negra. The site has optimum visibility of the Crab, the Cygnus region, Mrk 421, MGRO J1908+06 and limited access to the Galactic center. HAWC at Sierra Negra will have enormous synergy with local facilities like the Large Millimeter Telescope, capable of daytime follow ups, and solar and cosmic ray observatories, as well as with observatories like GLAST, Veritas and IceCube. We present the HAWC site and its preparation toward the construction of HAWC.