Hiking Volcan Tacaná is a really cool experience, as it’s partially in Mexico and partially in Guatemala. On the summit you can stand in both countries at once. At 13,320ft (4,060m), it’s the 2nd tallest volcano in Guatemala. It’s part of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountain range and is currently active, having most recently erupted in 1986. From the top, you can see many other volcanoes in the region including Tajamulco, the tallest in Guatemala. And supposedly you can see the Pacific Ocean if the weather is really clear.

We started our hike from Casa Yolanda, which is an adorable family-run place covered in flowers and located on the trail in a small community called Toniná. We had arranged a guide with them via Whatsapp costing 500q for 4 people, so 125q each (around $16). Our plan was to arrive at Casa Yolanda at 1pm, hike to a camping spot with all our gear, wake up at 4am to hike to the summit for sunrise, and then go back to our camp to pack things up and head down. But things don’t always go according to plan.

Getting There

…was an adventure in itself. My badass friend, Ileana, drove the four of us 7 hours from Antigua to the town of Sibinal. We left at 4am and despite several road blocks, made it there around 11am. Then we had to find the public transport pickup truck to go the rest of the way, as the road to the trail wasn’t drive-able for a regular car. We left Ileana’s car parked in Sibinal on the street in front of the police station, as we couldn’t find any parking lots in the downtown area (thankfully the car was fine when we came back). Then when the pickup truck dropped us off, we were met by our guide, Nelson. He walked us up to Casa Yolanda, which was about a mile uphill. On the way up, we had to pay a 20q entrance fee and sign in. And by the time we finally made it to Casa Yolanda, it was 3pm and pouring rain.

We decided the rain was too heavy and it was too late in the day to hike with all our gear. So the people at Casa Yolanda kindly offered us a room with 4 beds to stay for the night at 50q per person (about $6.50). And Nelson said he could take us up to the summit for sunrise if we started hiking at 1am and left our tent and sleeping bags in the room. So instead of starting our hike, we ended up having a nice afternoon playing cards and drinking the box of wine we intended to have around the fire at our camp.

The Hike Itself

We went to bed very early, around 7 or 8pm and around 12:45am we woke up to eat breakfast of banana bread and peanut butter. We had made/packed all our meals in advance. Nelson made us fresh coffee and then we headed out. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and the temperature wasn’t too cold. We actually got hot as we hiked up and had to take off some layers. It wasn’t too hard to hike up the trail in the dark with headlamps. However, there were puddles or slippery spots that were hard to see. Also, the trail required scrambling up rocks in some places. Nelson made sure to allow breaks when we needed and he fended off aggressive dogs. They were just being protective of the properties we passed but it was pretty scary, especially as we couldn’t see when they approached. While we were still climbing up, first light appeared through the trees. Nelson decided we should watch the sunrise from a spot slightly lower than the summit so we wouldn’t need to rush the ascent. It ended up being a gorgeous lookout.

We ended up lucking out with a really beautiful morning. When we finally made it to the summit, the sky was blue and our surroundings were really clear. We probably stayed up there too long. I got a bad headache from altitude sickness. Still, it was worth it because we had a lot of fun going back and forth the Guatemalan and Mexican sides and looking at the panoramic view.

Overall Review

This was an incredible hiking experience. We had a lot of fun throughout the chaos of getting there, despite and sometimes because of the many mishaps. If I were to do this again, however, I would make sure to have a more flexible schedule. We hadn’t accounted for rain delays and transportation detours when originally planning. I also wouldn’t have packed gear, as we ended up not using it. And I would have taken a few more precautions to avoid getting altitude sickness.

Have you hiked Tacaná? Please let me know in the comments if you have any tips or advice about this volcano that I didn’t mention. And if you haven’t hiked it yet, I hope this post motivates and helps you! And if you’re interested in hiking other volcanoes in Guatemala, check out my Acatenango and Pacaya posts.