Recently drug runners have been using the lower portion of this trail as they carry cocaine and other substances to Mexico. There have been a number of gun battles between these criminals and the military. Don't let this stop you from climbing this wonderful volcano but be careful and don't leave the trail - especially in the lower sections.
While Google maps calls the town Rio Seco, anyone in Xela knows Rio Seco to be a dry riverbed that runs through all of the city, not the town at the base of the volcano. If taking bus(2 quetzales, US 25 cents) or taxi (60 quetzales, US$7.50), ask for Llano del Piñal, should get you to the base.
Hi there, thanks very much for the info clarification! The previous page iteration had referred to Llano del Piñal also and have integrated all the information I have available. Please feel free to contribute or suggest anything else that you think will improve the page.
I just did this hike yesterday. Just for clarification, taking the chicken bus to Llano del Pinal starts you off on a northeasterly approach from the far left side of your trail map of potential routes. Basically, it means you join the main path from the east (labeled "Path to?" in your trail map). To get to this path from Llano del Pinal (No tilde over the "n"), you follow the main road south from where one gets dropped off to hike Santa Maria. After about 1 hour, the trail(s) approach a grassland plateau between Santa Maria and a small mountain ridge. Before actually arriving at the top of the plateau, you veer right towards Santa Maria, following a deep ditch-like trail littered with white gravel and rocks on either side (appropriately referred to as "túnel blanco"). There is a large tree with a white arrow spray-painted on the bark in the woods where you join the main path going up about 20-30 minutes after veering right.
I would recommend relabeling "Chicavioc & Llano del Pinal" to just "Chuicavioc" to avoid confusion, and it would be helpful to label the far left side "Llano del Pinal." You could then also change "Path to?" to "Path from Llano del Pinal."
Thank you for this great write-up. Please make the corrections above, as apparently others have gotten temporarily lost on their guide-less hikes looking for the trail from Llano del Pinal.
In January 2017 the trail was in good shape. Here are a few reference points that might make routefinding easier.
- Get off the bus at Llano del Pinal (end of the line) and walk to QUATRO CAMINOS, a junction where the main street turns into a rocky path, and take the path.
- Walk through fields, stay on main path, ignore any junctions/dead ends going into fields.
- IMPORTANT: there is one critical junction on the trail. Shortly after the path enters the forest, you'll come to a fork. Go LEFT, uphill on a less obvious path (right goes to the other side of the mountain where people got lost).
- Reach a flat grassy area and go right.
- From here it's a straight shot to the summit.
Bring hiking sticks, the trail is very muddy when the morning frost melts.
I recommend camping on the grassy meadow or on the summit to fully enjoy the night sky and views of Xela and Santiaguito. There is little shelter on the summit, though.
Thanks for this very helpful description! We went to Santa Maria today. As we hiked Tajamulco yesterday, we thought the summit would be a bit too exhaustive, so we decided to hike up only to El Mirador to see Santiaguito erupt.
Getting to the starting point is really easy by bus. We took the southward bound bus at Iglesia El Calvario and hopped off at the final stop in Llano de Pinal. From there it's only a short walk southward (following the main road) to the start of the trail. Getting to La Mesa from there is easy: just climb the obvious rocky path and don't enter any farmland.
Getting to El Mirador from there is a bit more tricky though. We never saw the fallen tree as desribed in the text - even took a few wrong left turns that brought us to a private terrain and to a secret lumberjack spot. My main advice would be to stick mostly to the right. The route to El Mirador from La Mesa is quite flat. If you face any long (+5 minutes) hikes up or down, you've probably taken a wrong turn. We had to climb two low wooden fences to get to El Mirador as well.
In the end, it was really worth it. El Mirador is very quiet and has retained its natural feel (no fencing, artificial platforms, or anything). And the view over Santiaguito is amazing!
mmcguigan - May 11, 2008 5:48 pm - Voted 10/10
CAUTIONRecently drug runners have been using the lower portion of this trail as they carry cocaine and other substances to Mexico. There have been a number of gun battles between these criminals and the military. Don't let this stop you from climbing this wonderful volcano but be careful and don't leave the trail - especially in the lower sections.
Tim Geerlings - May 26, 2010 4:10 pm - Voted 8/10
Getting thereWhile Google maps calls the town Rio Seco, anyone in Xela knows Rio Seco to be a dry riverbed that runs through all of the city, not the town at the base of the volcano. If taking bus(2 quetzales, US 25 cents) or taxi (60 quetzales, US$7.50), ask for Llano del Piñal, should get you to the base.
Baarb - May 27, 2010 7:22 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Getting thereHi there, thanks very much for the info clarification! The previous page iteration had referred to Llano del Piñal also and have integrated all the information I have available. Please feel free to contribute or suggest anything else that you think will improve the page.
zola - Aug 13, 2014 12:04 pm - Voted 7/10
Starting at Llano del PinalHi,
I just did this hike yesterday. Just for clarification, taking the chicken bus to Llano del Pinal starts you off on a northeasterly approach from the far left side of your trail map of potential routes. Basically, it means you join the main path from the east (labeled "Path to?" in your trail map). To get to this path from Llano del Pinal (No tilde over the "n"), you follow the main road south from where one gets dropped off to hike Santa Maria. After about 1 hour, the trail(s) approach a grassland plateau between Santa Maria and a small mountain ridge. Before actually arriving at the top of the plateau, you veer right towards Santa Maria, following a deep ditch-like trail littered with white gravel and rocks on either side (appropriately referred to as "túnel blanco"). There is a large tree with a white arrow spray-painted on the bark in the woods where you join the main path going up about 20-30 minutes after veering right.
I would recommend relabeling "Chicavioc & Llano del Pinal" to just "Chuicavioc" to avoid confusion, and it would be helpful to label the far left side "Llano del Pinal." You could then also change "Path to?" to "Path from Llano del Pinal."
Thank you for this great write-up. Please make the corrections above, as apparently others have gotten temporarily lost on their guide-less hikes looking for the trail from Llano del Pinal.
Baarb - Aug 13, 2014 10:24 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Starting at Llano del PinalHi there, thanks for these comments and your others on the photos/diagrams. I will look to make the corrections you have suggested. Cheers.
Storm2 - Mar 25, 2017 9:26 am - Hasn't voted
Update January 2017In January 2017 the trail was in good shape. Here are a few reference points that might make routefinding easier.
- Get off the bus at Llano del Pinal (end of the line) and walk to QUATRO CAMINOS, a junction where the main street turns into a rocky path, and take the path.
- Walk through fields, stay on main path, ignore any junctions/dead ends going into fields.
- IMPORTANT: there is one critical junction on the trail. Shortly after the path enters the forest, you'll come to a fork. Go LEFT, uphill on a less obvious path (right goes to the other side of the mountain where people got lost).
- Reach a flat grassy area and go right.
- From here it's a straight shot to the summit.
Bring hiking sticks, the trail is very muddy when the morning frost melts.
I recommend camping on the grassy meadow or on the summit to fully enjoy the night sky and views of Xela and Santiaguito. There is little shelter on the summit, though.
MjSt - Mar 17, 2019 7:46 pm - Hasn't voted
Route to El MiradorThanks for this very helpful description! We went to Santa Maria today. As we hiked Tajamulco yesterday, we thought the summit would be a bit too exhaustive, so we decided to hike up only to El Mirador to see Santiaguito erupt.
Getting to the starting point is really easy by bus. We took the southward bound bus at Iglesia El Calvario and hopped off at the final stop in Llano de Pinal. From there it's only a short walk southward (following the main road) to the start of the trail. Getting to La Mesa from there is easy: just climb the obvious rocky path and don't enter any farmland.
Getting to El Mirador from there is a bit more tricky though. We never saw the fallen tree as desribed in the text - even took a few wrong left turns that brought us to a private terrain and to a secret lumberjack spot. My main advice would be to stick mostly to the right. The route to El Mirador from La Mesa is quite flat. If you face any long (+5 minutes) hikes up or down, you've probably taken a wrong turn. We had to climb two low wooden fences to get to El Mirador as well.
In the end, it was really worth it. El Mirador is very quiet and has retained its natural feel (no fencing, artificial platforms, or anything). And the view over Santiaguito is amazing!