bodofzt - Nov 21, 2023 6:09 pm - Voted 7/10

I went to Malinche the day before yesterday (a Sunday) and in June before that (on a Friday). In June there were virtually no climbers at all on the mountain, just me, one more solo guy, and a foreign couple. Two days ago, the mountain was packed. Please mind these changes from the current post:
* Since reactivation after COVID, the gates that lead to Centro Vacacional are open 7-19 h. That means that you cannot arrive by car before 7 am, and you won't be let out past 7 pm. (You can probably still evade the gates by taking very very narrow, steep and unsafe roads downhill; I would advise against it.)
* On the weekends, the free parking next to Centro Vacacional fills up pretty early, but there's also a communal parking lot next to it that costs $50 for the day. Parking on the road is no longer permitted.
* The tourism infrastructure has been expanded, now there are more options for eating, renting and buying outdoor equipment, plus there are pretty decent public toilets.
* Crossing the gate above Centro Vacacional towards the top now costs $56 for adults, which is in line with the cost for the access to other NPs in Mexico.
Please bear in mind that the second and third points are probably only valid on weekends, as the mountain is pretty deserted on workdays. Two days ago, it being a Sunday in the middle of a 'puente' (long weekend), we had to stand in line like 15 minutes in order to buy our pass, and the summit was more crowded than I'd ever experienced it before (maybe 30 people or more on a space smaller than my living room).