volcan san pedro

The hike up San Pedro volcano takes you through corn and coffee fields that somehow cling to the steep slopes of the volcano. There are minimal switch-backs on this trail, instead you find yourself hiking straight up the side of the volcano for most of your 3 hour (approx.) ascent. It can be difficult to tell once you reach the top since the caldera is filled with a pristine rainforest and its canopy surpasses the height of the caldera. The view over Lago Atitlan however is not marred by the rainforest and can easily be described as 'stellar.'I suggest hiring a guide!

Volcan San Pedro is one of the iconic images that first comes to mind when you think about Lake Atitlan. Everyone who comes to Panajachel who has a camera will probably take half a dozen or more photos of this volcano. We were fortunate to have had our photo ops with a clear blue sky when we arrived late in the morning at Panajachel. Later in the day the sky got hazy from the smoke and ash that drifted in from Volcan Fuego.

Awesome hike! It is straight up but just leave even earlier if you need to (we left San Pedro at 5 AM, were hiking by 5:20 AM and reached the summit around 8 or so which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful views before it got warm. The hike down is more tough actually but goes by relatively quickly, like 2 hours and then you have the whole day to relax in San Pedro (or go cliff jumping in San Marcos to cool off like we did!). Definitely make it to the top, the views are great!

the 100Q entrance fee is well worth it. The hike is a steep, lung burner but your reward is a panoramic view of lake Atitlan from the crater rim of this iconic volcano. Bring a lunch, plenty of water, and a warm jacket, it gets cold at the top.

The guide was really friendly but the group was too fast for us. The hike was too hard and we didn't know about it. We practice sport everyday but not hiking. We did only a half but it was worth it. The view is pretty. You can see birds, avocado trees and coffee workers. Bring a lot of water.

hiked with a local guide who pointed out the coffee trees and avocado trees and encouraged me to the top. Beautiful view. You can do it!

This is a serious hike but worth every step. I work out twice a week they said it was 3 hours up and 2 hours down, it took me every minute of 3 hours to get to the top, 1:45 to get back down. Amazing view and great exercise, also walk through some coffee fields on the way up. There is only one trail but there are small trails branching off it, for the cheap price of a guide I was glad to have him to say how much further, but many people hiked it without a guide. I took a liter and a half of water and drank it all, also many snacks and sandwich for the top and ate everything you will need the energy! I should have worn suntan lotion but not bad today. There is a bathroom at the start and outhouse near the top. When you get to first resting shelter with a view you are 40% or so there.

We are all pretty fit but two of our 4-person group stopped at the viewing point because the steepness of the climb aggravated an ongoing injury for one of us. Those that made it to the top have already posted their reviews but I would add this: don't be put off Volcan Pedro if you are concerned about the hike. It's absolutely worth going only half way because even from there the views are breathtaking.

The only reason I am giving this a four star review is because the descent is tough. It took us almost 4 hours to get to the top and 2.5h to get down. We do not hike every day but do practice sports. We arranged a guide from an agency in Pana but one can easily take the boat to San Pedro, get a tuk tuk to the park and get the guide there. And, there were quite a few people hiking that day without a guide so that is an option too.Again, the hike is not easy but getting to the platform after about an hour gives the first amazing view and then the feeling at the top is the best.Bring plenty of food and water and a jacket.

Talk about a workout. This is a 5100 feet gain climb at an average 37% grade. While hiking, I was learning Spanish for "uphill" - empinada and "hike" - escalada. Talk about accurate. There are literally only two short (30 feet each) spots where you go downhill on the way up. There's a stop about an hour in and then one about 20 mins before you get to the summit. I'm in fairly good shape (gym 2-3 times a week, 3 hour bike rides, do sprint triathlons) and my quads were sore for 3 days after this. Those things being said, the forest is covered and gorgeous and the view is worth it. BRING WATER. I brought 2 bottles, should have brought 3. BRING SNACKS. I brought a few snacks, but should have brought something more substantial to eat at the summit. GO!

I'm 59, fit but with dodgy knees. It took me 3 hours up and 2 hours down but it was absolutely worth every step for the views from the summit. My 14 year old son thought it was the best thing he's ever done. Perhaps we were lucky but we had very little cloud so the views were spectacular.I've been to most of the world's big attractions and this is definitely up there!

This is one of the volcanoes surrounding atitlan lake you can take 2-3 hours hike up to the top, we recomend to take your box lunch, jacket and a lot of water then see the beautiful view to atitlan lake.

The view of the lake and surrounding volcanos is well worth the 2-3 hour hike up. There are a few places to rest and enjoy the view. You could still do it if you weren't in shape, it would just take a bit longer and you might want some sticks. It is chilly at the top, take a jacket! We went with Bigfoot tours, and were glad to have a guide because there were a few different paths. However we probably wouldn't use this company again, at the end our guide walked us a long way back to his house to get something without communicating to us where we were going, and despite us saying we needed to go back to our hostel. This could have just been a misunderstanding, as our Spanish isn't good, but it was a bit awkward and meant we had to find our way back from up in San Pedro town and added about 2km and 30 mins to our journey.

I did this hike with some friends in October 2013 through Bigfoot Tours. We did the sunrise tour, leaving around 2am. It took around 3.5 hours, starting in town, and it was a beautiful hike up. Our guide was very knowledgable and also had a good sense of humour. We arrived to the summit with some time to spare, luckily, and were able to see the view before the sun rose. Unfortunately, just before the sun peeked over the horizon some clouds rolled in and staid on the summit for a while - we waited around 45 minutes, freezing our butts off, hoping for it to clear and finally gave up.I did a few hikes throughout Central America and this was one of the better ones, with good views on the way up and down and through some beautiful forest. I would recommend this hike to anyone that can handle a 3-4 ascent. The trail itself was in pretty good shape compared to some.

like i said in the title...stairs or not it's just up.... and when you are there you are in heaven ...you see from the top of the mountain :))