Partway up Volcán San Pedro on Lake Atitlán

April 25, 2026

While we were staying in San Pedro la Laguna, Euri and I hiked partway up Volcán San Pedro, the volcano right behind town. We took a tuk-tuk up and did it ourselves. It's steep and rugged, and we pretty much had the trail to ourselves. I say partway because I must have drunk some bacteria somewhere, and my stomach didn't let me make it all the way to the top.

Trail details

Living in Guatemala puts the summit at 9,908 feet, with about 3,900 feet of gain from San Pedro la Laguna and 8 to 10 hours round trip, and rates it moderate to hard. It doesn't give a distance, and The Outbound lists 4 miles round trip and about 5 hours, so treat those numbers loosely. Living in Guatemala says the trailhead is at the park office on the northwest edge of town, about a 15 minute walk from the main dock or Q5 to Q10 by tuk-tuk. It lists entry at Q100 and a guide at Q150 to Q200 as of early 2026, and says registering at the office effectively makes a guide mandatory, while The Outbound says the Q100 includes one (checked November 2026). We went without a guide, but rules like this change, so ask at the office. There's no water on the trail, the upper part is steep and full of roots, and Living in Guatemala suggests starting by 6 a.m. because clouds can cover the summit by mid-morning.

The steep trail climbing over thick tree roots and worn dirt steps, with a big lichen-covered trunk on the right

Through the coffee plantations

The lower part of the trail goes through coffee plantations, and I found them really interesting. Coffee in Guatemala was delicious, and this is clearly why. They grow the good stuff a mile away.

A cluster of ripe red coffee cherries on a branch between yellow-green leaves

Those red cherries are what turns into your cup of coffee. Around San Pedro, some of it comes from very small farms. Equal Exchange wrote about a coffee tour run by Tz'utujil Mayan youth in town, on an organic farm belonging to a member of Adenisa, a small local co-op. The members of the wider group that co-op belongs to farm less than two and a half acres on average, and the article describes people removing the pulp, then washing the beans and drying them in the sun, with the work done by hand.

A narrow trail lined with tall trees topped with spiky yucca-like crowns

Steep, rugged and empty

Above that, the trail is steep and rugged, with roots and rock steps to climb over. There were big trees overhead with bromeliads growing right out of the branches.

Euri walking down the dirt trail in a straw hat under a huge tree full of bromeliads

A bromeliad with long thin leaves and a pink flower spike growing on a branch, with green treetops behind it

The creatures were fun to look at too. This millipede was black with bright yellow bands.

A shiny black millipede with bright yellow bands and yellow legs crawling across dirt and dead leaves

The view from as far as I got

We got some big views of Lake Atitlán on the way up.

Euri smiling on the trail, holding a straw hat, with a lakeside town, the blue lake and hazy mountains behind her

There's also a wooden lookout with a corrugated roof that frames the whole lake, with San Pedro la Laguna on its point far below.

Lake Atitlán framed by the wavy edge of a lookout roof and pine branches, with San Pedro la Laguna on a point below and clouds over the far mountains

Jereme smiling in a sweat-soaked T-shirt at the railing of the wooden lookout, with the lake and green hillside behind him

So I can't tell you about the summit. My stomach made that decision for me. For another volcano on the same trip, see Pacaya, where we roasted marshmallows in a crack in the lava rock. The whole route is in our Guatemala itinerary.