Last Updated on: 30th July 2024, 05:24 pm
Santa Ana Volcano is El Salvador’s highest volcano, its third-highest peak, and arguably the country’s most popular day trip. In the following guide, we’ll be covering everything you need to know about the Santa Ana Volcano hike, including the trek itself and transportation.
Of course, when reading superlatives about a tiny country like El Salvador, you have to remember that everything is relative. The volcano only reaches up to 2,381 m (7,812 ft) above sea level – about the same elevation as the city of Xela, Guatemala.
Speaking of Guatemala, this hike doesn’t come close to the intensity of the famous Acatenango hike. But that could be seen as a positive. You can easily do the Santa Ana Volcano hike in one day, with little preparation required.
One of the trickiest parts of your day will be finding the right bus there, which you can learn more about at the end of the article, along with tips on reaching Santa Ana and local accommodation.
About This Hike
THE BASICS: The Santa Ana Volcano hike is a moderate 7 km (4.3 miles) out-and-back hike with about 470 m of elevation gain.
The roundtrip journey should take about three hours (including time at the summit). While it culminates at the peak of Santa Ana Volcano, the highlight isn’t so much the views from the peak, but rather the views into the crater.
Most hikers will be getting to the trailhead via public bus, and all passengers will end up in the same hiking group accompanied by a local guide.
Having a guide is apparently mandatory, though hiking up the Santa Volcano would still be pretty straightforward without one.
At the time of writing, the guide fee costs $3 per person, while foreigners will also have to pay $6 to enter the National Park.
As we’ll cover below, in addition to the hike itself, expect to spend about three to four hours on the bus, so you probably won’t want to make any other plans on this day.
WHAT TO BRING: It would be wise to wear hiking boots if you have them, though many people do complete this hike in regular tennis shoes.
You’ll want to bring snacks and water, though there is a kiosk by the ticket booth that sells both for a reasonable price.
Of course, don’t forget your hat, sunscreen and camera.
RECOMMENDED APPS: As a majority of hikers will be doing this hike with a guide, no apps are required for this excursion. Still, you might want to have Maps.me or AllTrails handy in order to check your progress.
The Santa Ana Volcano Hike
Departing Santa Ana a little before eight, the bus arrived at the trailhead for the Santa Ana Volcano hike about 1.5 hours later (more below). Rather than a special tourist bus, this is a regular public bus that stops at every town and village along the way.
While locals do indeed use it for their local commute, about 75% of the bus was filled with foreign tourists during my visit. So despite this not being an official tour, we all ended up as a single hiking group.
As mentioned above, hiking guides are mandatory, and everyone will be asked to pay $3 at the start of the trailhead. Someone will also check your bag to make sure you’re not carrying any alcohol.
This being a relatively easy and accessible hike, I imagine that there might have been incidents in the past with people partying at the summit!
After about ten minutes of hiking through a nature trail, you’ll arrive at the official park entrance for Cerro Verde National Park, also known as Parque Nacional Los Volcanes. As mentioned above, entry costs $6 per person at the time of writing.
It’s also here that you’ll find restrooms, as well as a kiosk selling snacks and water for a reasonable price. And then, after a bit of waiting around, the hike will commence once again.
All in all, the Santa Ana Volcano hike is pretty straightforward, and it’s a bit curious why a guide is necessary. Supposedly, there have been issues with safety in the past, with armed robbers waiting along the trail.
While that may have been the origin of the guide system, El Salvador is much safer nowadays. The trail is pretty obvious in most sections, and the guides do little other than decide when your group takes a break.
Unfortunately, it was very foggy on the day of my hike, and we couldn’t see a thing from any of the viewpoints on the way up. I was having flashbacks to my hike up Acatenango Volcano that had the same conditions.
On a clear day, hikers should be able to see a view of Lago de Coatepeque in the distance, as well as some of the other nearby volcanic peaks.
While not getting to see them was disappointing, the real highlight of hiking the Santa Ana Volcano is looking down into the crater lake, which you should be able to see under any weather condition.
With all the breaks included, it took us around 90 minutes to reach the summit. While it’s a constant uphill climb that will surely leave you out of breath at points, this is still one of the easier volcano hikes in the region.
Oddly, AllTrails currently categorizes it as ‘hard,’ though I’d consider it ‘moderate’ at best. And if you’ve recently ascended Acatenango, you’ll find it quite easy.
Furthermore, at just 2,381 m above sea level, the elevation isn’t enough for most people to have issues with altitude sickness.
Reaching the edge of the crater, the rotten egg smell of hydrogen sulfide filled the air, reminding me of Yellowstone.
Looking down into the crater, we were rewarded with a view of a beautiful green crater lake. And the plumes of steam rising from different points around it reminded us that Santa Ana Volcano – officially known as Volcán Ilamatepec – isn’t entirely dormant.
The summit collapsed at some point between 57,000 and 12,000 years ago, and eruptions have been happening ever since, though they’re few and far between when measured on a human timeline.
The most recent eruption of Santa Ana Volcano took place in 2005, which was the first one in 101 years.
It’s possible to walk along different parts of the crater rim to view the lake from different angles. Past a certain point, however, the rim is off-limits for unclear reasons.
There are no guard rails of any kind along the rim, so you’ll have to use common sense and be extra careful as you snap your photos.
Upon our arrival at the summit, our guides had mentioned that we’d have thirty minutes at the top. But after nearly thirty minutes had passed, our guides were nowhere in sight.
A lot of us were confused, but we just decided to head down anyway. Again, the reason for the guides being necessary still baffles me, and we had no trouble getting down on our own.
Throughout the descent, I repeatedly checked the time, wondering if we’d be able to catch the 13:00 bus back to Santa Ana. In the end, not only would most of us make it before 13:00, but the bus would end up late anyway.
All in all, the Santa Ana Volcano hike is an enjoyable and accessible excursion that’s well worth experiencing during your time in El Salvador.
Additional Info
Most people without a car will be reaching Santa Ana Volcano via public bus. The bus originates at the station labeled ‘Sala de Espera y Abordaje LA VENCEDORA’ on Google Maps, located in the southwest part of Santa Ana.
The morning bus (#248) first departs around 7:30 and costs a little under $1. There are supposedly other buses later in the day, but considering how the one-way drive takes about 1.5 to two hours, you’ll definitely want to get the 7:30 bus.
But what if you’re not staying close to that bus station? The buses will head down 11 Calle Pte. in the south part of the city, so all you have to do is wait at any point along that road and flag it down when you see it. (The bus will eventually veer right onto Diagonal David Grandino before reaching the roundabout.)
If you’ll be catching the bus from the street, you can show up a little bit later than 7:30, as not only will it take some time to get to your location due to traffic, but buses often depart a bit late as well.
But which bus to look for? While you may encounter something different, the bus I took had no number on it, even though it’s supposed to be bus #248. It also probably won’t have ‘Santa Ana Volcano’ written on it, but ‘Cerro Verde,’ which is the official name of the park.
As mentioned above, as soon as you get off the bus, you’ll sort of be ushered into the guided hike with everyone else who was on the bus with you.
Based on an article I’d read online, I expected the only return bus to be at 16:00. But as of 2024, there’s also a bus heading back to Santa Ana at 13:00 which most people should be able to catch.
While Santa Ana and San Salvador are not that far apart, it would be very challenging for most people to make it to the city in time to catch the 7:30 am bus as described above.
That leaves a tour as the best option. This highly-rated tour will pick you up at your hotel in the capital before taking you to Santa Ana Volcano.
Ideally, the closer you are to the historical center, the better. Not only is this where the city’s landmarks are concentrated, but it’s also where you’ll find the most restaurants and coffee shops.
Some highly-rated midrange options near the center include Hostal Las Puertas and Casa Vieja Guest House, while those looking for something a bit more upscale should consider the Remfort Hotel.
Of course, Santa Ana is home to plenty of budget options. But if you’re hoping for a private room, you might have to stay outside the city center.
Altea Hostal looks like a good option to the north of the center, while I stayed at Casa Blanca Tu Casa to the east.
I had an overall good experience at Casa Blanca. The owners were friendly and helpful, and breakfast each morning was included in the price. While bathrooms were shared, I rarely found them full, and the internet also worked great.
The only downside was the location. While walkable from the historical center, it took about twenty minutes. And there were not many restaurants or coffee shops in the area.
Most people will be getting to Santa Ana from either San Salvador or from somewhere in Guatemala. We’ll be covering both cases below.
FROM SAN SALVADOR
If you’re coming from San Salvador, you’ll want to head to Terminal de Buses de Occidente and take a 201 bus. From my experience, some of these buses appear like your typical ‘chicken buses’ (converted US school buses), while some are more like your standard city bus with separated seats.
The ride only costs a dollar and should take between one and two hours depending on traffic.
I’ve only taken this bus going from Santa Ana to San Salvador, and I’m not exactly sure where the bus terminates in Santa Ana. But when departing from Santa Ana, you should take an Uber down to the Metrocenter shopping mall in the south of the city.
Here, the 201 buses run down Avenida Independencia Sur, and you’ll find a bus stop in front of Galerias de casa Sandoval. The 201 buses are very frequent, passing by every several minutes.
Whichever direction you’re coming from, note that there’s no luggage storage on the 201 buses (from my experience). I offered to pay the driver double, as my luggage would be taking up an extra seat, but he declined, and I made the journey with zero issues.
You can also just take an Uber between San Salvador and Santa Ana, which should be about $40-50 in total.
FROM GUATEMALA
A lot of travelers skip Guatemala City altogether (which is a shame) and come to El Salvador directly from Antigua. In that case, private tourist shuttle will be your only option, unless you’re willing to transfer in Guatemala City.
From Guatemala City, you can take a direct coach bus, with a few different companies running international routes. I went with Pullmantur and had no issues with them.
Though not that cheap (about $35 USD), it was a fancy double decker bus that was similar to the VIP buses in Mexico, and it’s a shame these types of buses aren’t more common in Central America.
Anyway, before the journey, the staff will check your passport and make sure you haven’t overstayed your visa. You will eventually go through border control, but keep in mind that residents of Central American countries don’t have to get their passport stamped or pay a fee for entering El Salvador.
In my case, I was the only non-Central American on the bus, and so I was the only one who had to get off and pay the $12 entry fee for El Salvador.
Note that if Santa Ana is your final destination when coming from Guatemala City, you will not be taken to the city center. You will probably be dropped off at a roundabout to the west of the city (Redondel Santa Maria in my case).
Fortunately, Guatemalan SIM cards should work just fine on roaming in El Salvador, so you shouldn’t have any problems hailing an Uber to your hotel.