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This is by far the most popular thing to do when visiting Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. If you’re an adventurous traveler, looking for a breathtaking experience, this is a must-do for you! The Indian Nose hike brings you to the top of a mountain that offers one of the most beautiful views over Lake Atitlan and its surrounding volcanoes.
This guide will provide you with all the information you need to know to hike the Indian Nose at the Lake Atitlan area. Whether you’re an experienced hiker or just a person looking for a stunning view, this guide will help you plan for making this hike unforgettable!
You might also like: A Traveler’s Guide to Lake Atitlan’s Must-Do Activities (coming soon)
For your information, all these pictures were taken in April 2023.
Length
3 kilometers
Duration
30 minutes
Height difference
290 meters
Difficulty
Easy to medium
The Indian Nose, also known as ‘La Nariz del Indio’, is a well-known mountain peak near Lake Atitlan. The name comes from the resemblance of the profile of a sleeping person, with the highest point being the nose. The top of the trail is very popular among travelers, especially the sunrise hike, as it offers a stunning view over the lake with its surrounding volcanoes. For some indigenous people of Guatemala, the Indian Nose is considered to be a sacred site and is often used for spiritual ceremonies.
The Indian Nose hiking trail is the closest located to the towns of San Juan La Laguna and San Pablo La Laguna at Lake Atitlan. So, it’s best to stay in one of these towns the night before, as you will leave early in the morning (if you decide to do the sunrise tour). Even if you do a day tour, it’s easier to begin your journey in one of these towns. Otherwise, you will need to take a Lancha across the lake and this will add some time.
We stayed at San Juan La Laguna, and it took around 40 minutes to reach the starting point of the Indian Nose hike. We booked a transfer with a hiking guide in this town and we did it the day before, which was no problem. That way, we didn’t have to worry about transfer or finding the beginning of the hiking trail.
To get the best views, it’s best to visit Guatemala during the dry seasons, which are between November and April. In general, the dry season has better weather and less cloud cover.
The wet season runs from May through October, which can give some rainy days or days with lots of cloud cover. If you can plan your activities around the weather, then you should be fine every month, but if you are short on time, I would recommend going in the middle of the dry season.
I recommend booking a guide with a transfer to bring you to the top of the hiking trail, as it’s just the safest and easiest option. Out of safety reasons, it’s advised against hiking on your own as the land you’re crossing is private land owned by farmers. They will forcibly ask to pay an amount of money to trespass on their land. And, if you don’t speak (good) Spanish, it will be harder to handle this situation. I don’t know how much of this is true, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
As you’re embarking on a sunrise mission, it’s also pretty hard to fix any transfer on your own in the middle of the night. And besides, figuring out the trail that’s not clearly marked is not that easy in the middle of the night. So, I recommend booking a transfer and a guide.
This can be done at the nearby towns in Lake Atitlan (San Juan La Laguna, Santa Clara La Laguna, or San Pablo La Laguna). We arranged everything the day before our hike, so there’s no need to book it weeks in advance!
The only downside of doing it with a tour guide is that you’re time is cut short because they have a tight schedule. This was sometimes on the annoying side as we want to take our time taking pictures.
The Indian Nose hike tours will be around 80 GTQ to 100 GTQ. We paid 100 GTQ, as we wanted to do an extra hike to Pico de Loro (read more later on), as it wasn’t included in the original hike. The guide needed to make an extra effort for this, but it was well worth the price in my opinion!
Don’t take a private tour tho, as this is the most famous hike around the Lake Atitlan region, so you will most definitely not be alone on this hike. A private tour seems a bit pointless then.
You can decide if you want to watch the sunrise over the mountains (which I highly recommend) or just do a regular day hike. The sunrise hike is really popular tho, so the chances of you being alone are very slim, but you will get your chance of taking a picture, you just need to be patient.
The sunrise hike leaves at 3:45 AM tho, so be prepared to be tired all day as you won’t sleep much the day before.
It’s not particularly a hard hike, but having to wake up at 3:45 AM makes it way harder than it should be. After a long drive, we arrived at the start of the trail. The walk takes between 30 to 45 minutes, depending on your fitness level and the viewpoint the guide is taking you to, as there are around 5 different viewpoints on top of the peak.
At first, the trail is pretty flat, but after around 10 to 15 minutes, the trail is only steeply upwards. This is what makes the hike tiresome. But, because it’s a short hike, it’s pretty doable.
We spent an hour at the top, waiting for the sunrise, and got quite the time to take all the pictures we wanted. But, because it’s so busy at the top, we needed to wait our turn. Afterward, it’s time to head back down the same way you got to the top. The only difference is that you now can see the path! It’s mainly farmland, which is why it’s better to hike with a guide as it’s private property.
This is definitely a highlight on the hike, especially for photographers like ourselves! When I saw this picture online, I needed to know where this was located and how we could reach it! After some research, I found it, but there wasn’t much information about it online. So, we decided to ask the guide for more information and if they could bring us here. And they could!
Once at the top of the Indian Nose, it’s only a short hike of 5 to 10 minutes more to this viewpoint, but keep in mind that it’s quite a dangerous path. It goes down steep, and if you’re not comfortable with hiking, you better skip this. Hiking on top of this mountain is even more dangerous. It’s really difficult to get to the top as there isn’t a rope to help you. Mel decided to climb to the top with the help of the guide (without help was impossible).
Do what you’re comfortable with and don’t risk anything for a picture!
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Hello, I’m Ellen and welcome to this blog! I’m in love with exploring the world and hopefully I get to inspire you with these blog posts and pictures to feel the same. You will find detailed itineraries, hidden gems, tips and so much more!
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