Parqueo Bienvenido for Santa Maria Volcano | Informal Campsite

April 23rd, 2024 by MobyDick

Best option to park/sleep for doing the hike up the volcano. sweet elderly couple who run this place. they charge 20Q for the day and another 20Q for the night. there is a basic pittoilet on the premises. loud during the day, but we had a quiet night.

March 26th, 2024 by lengthybush41

Parqueo Bienvenidos
Wasn't sure what to expect having pre-researched places to park in Llano De Pinal before heading in. So i winged it.
First: the town has no real opportunity for onstreet parking. Especially in a van/ rig. The roads are pretty rough, and there is nowhere discreet!
Upon entry, we were waved down by the elderly couple who owned the Bienvenidos parking lot. We told them of our plan to spend a night in the van and crack on with the Santa Maria hike early the next morning. They offered to let us park for the night and the following day for 40Q (2 of us in the van). No toilets or anything useful. In the end, they did not shut/ lock the gate, but we felt safe anyway.
Many loud buses and dogs going around into the night but managed a peaceful sleep.
She did not ask for more money/ burn rubbish nearby as other vanlifers have experienced in different spots. Close to the trail head and great view of the challenge.

July 28th, 2021 by maxtraveling

For those who don't want to park in that village there is also the option of taking the bus at Terminal Minerva. The direction is Llano de Pinal. The bus goes almost all the way to the trail head. Costs Q5.

Yet another option is to take an uber for ~Q30. That's what we did so we could leave our van at the McDonalds parking lot (free) and be at the trail head at the crack of dawn.

July 5th, 2019 by ninsche1

agree with phil, if anything take a left turn not right. if u keep left on intersections you will soon get to the first set of signs (lookour right, summit is left).
hike is steep with little variety in terrsin and views. top views are beautiful but lot of rubbish. did it without guide, no problem. paid 20Q to securely park the van in the parqueo at the bottom. all in all a good hike to tick off, but nothing extraordinary.

October 24th, 2018 by facebook.com/2MsOnTheRoad

The hike is 4.3km one way (started in a parking lot), but it is strenuous, 1200m elevation gain is not fun! We hiked with big backpacks, spending the night up top. It took us way more than 4h. If you are trained you'll be ok, we were sitting in the car for too long. Night was chilly and windy, about 8C, later probably close to freezing. We had a company of 6 bulls hanging out and sleeping on the summit. Views were amazing, fog clears up later in the evening then the sunrise, fog in the valley, shadow Santa Maria's perfect cone... little eruption of Santiaguito (viewpoint below the summit). If you have the gear go for it! Just make sure to turn right just before the grassy meadow, when you get to the meadow you missed your turn and can get lost in local people paths (like we did!)

February 1st, 2018 by alvise

Trail is 7.5 km one way, top is 3700mt and you start from 2500mt . Pretty slippery in some parts. Bring water and food. Waking pokes are good. On Galileo app this trail is pretty accurately marked. Lots of people leave around 5.00 to be up by sunrise or just after when is more clear. Could be tricky to find with headlamp the trail. You can go up in evening and sleep on top , it will be chilly.
Lots and lots of garbage, if you miss the trail follow the garbage path. good thing to do is bring a bag and collect some on the way down, some young do it every week, still lot to do.

April 4th, 2017 by phil

I would recommend allowing 4 hours for the ascent and at least 2 back down, as well as half an hour at the top to admire the amazing vistas.

Trail is pretty clear, although it often splits into multiple routes before merging again. I'm not sure about taking a right at the fields - if anything it should be a left. Google maps has the footpath marked so with GPS you will be fine.

Trail is rough so if you have walking poles would be beneficial.

February 5th, 2017 by Rimor

Santa Maria volcano trail head. there is a gated parking lot you can leave your vehicle as you hike the volcano. hike is steep and at some points difficult terrain.
took us 3 hours up but we got a bit lost. (take a right before the second field)
Amazing views. if you are lucky you can see Volcano Santiagos small eruptions.
you can also camp up top or in one of the fields.