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Watching night turn to day, with the twinkling lights of towns around the lake, a glowing horizon behind the mountains, and Volcan Fuego spewing lava and smoke in the distance was our most memorable morning in Lake Atitlan.
This is the Indian Nose hike – an unmissable experience while you’re on the lake.
Named for the shape of the mountain that looks like a reclined face, Indian Nose is the perfect vantage point to see the sunrise, with spectacular views of the surrounding volcanoes and small villages dotted around the lakeshore.
Read on for everything you need to know about the Indian Nose hike. With essential info about the hike, including the two trail options, whether you should go with a guide or not and essential items to bring, plus our personal experience hiking Indian Nose.
About Indian Nose
The Indian Nose is a mountain peak above Lake Atitlan in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, sitting at 2,200 metres (7,218 ft). The peak is said to look like a reclined face, with a prominent nose, hence the name.
You get a clear view of the peak from San Pedro, and I could definitely make out the shape of the face, can you?
You’ll hear it referred to by a few names: Indian Nose, Nariz del Indio (Spanish for Indian Nose) or Rostro Maya, meaning Maya Face in Spanish.
The mountain sits between the towns of San Juan la Laguna and Santa Clara la Laguna and there are trailheads to the summit from both towns. It’s not too far from the popular tourist towns of San Pedro and San Marcos.
The hike is one of the best things to do in Lake Atitlan, and the location of the mountain on the western shores of the lake makes this the perfect place to see the sun rising. It has direct views of the lake’s three volcanoes: San Pedro, Atitlan and Toliman as well as the famous Acatenango and Fuego in the distance, which if you’re lucky you might see erupting!
How to hike Indian Nose
There are two trails to choose from for the Indian Nose hike, the trail from Santa Clara (shorter, more popular) or the trail from San Juan (longer, steeper).
SANTA CLARA TRAIL
This trail is the most popular option, and where all the guided hikes leave from.
The trailhead is in the small town of Santa Clara la Laguna. Tourists rarely stay in Santa Clara, so tours include transport from nearby San Pedro or San Marcos to the trailhead. You can also come from Panajachel, but it’s a 90-minute drive, which isn’t ideal so early in the morning!
It’s a short but steep walk along a dirt trail through local farmland and coffee plantations to reach the summit. The trail starts off quite easily before starting to incline. There are about 100 steps carved into the dirt path and a series of steep switchbacks just before the summit.
It only takes about 20 – 45 minutes, we did it in 30, so although steep it’s over quickly!
Santa Clara trail quick facts
- 📏 Distance: 2.7 km (1.6 mi) return
- 📈 Elevation gain: 124 metres (407 ft)
- 🪫 Difficulty: moderate, steep but short
- ⏰ Duration: 30 – 45 minutes to reach the summit, slightly less to come down
- 🗺️ Trail map: AllTrails
SAN JUAN TRAIL
The San Juan trail is less popular because it is steeper and longer. But if you’re up for a decent hike, you can combine two attractions in one.
The hike starts at the trailhead to Mirador Kaqasiiwaan in the town of San Juan. This is a gorgeous lookout deck, decorated with a rainbow of paintings and it’s worth a visit even if you don’t hike this way! It takes about 15 – 20 minutes to reach the mirador, which of course, if you hike up for sunrise you won’t see, but you can check out on the way down.
From there, the trail gets very steep. It’s a long uphill slog, around 3 – 3.5 km (1.8 – 2.2 mi) before reaching the summit. It takes around 2 hours to get to the top, depending on your speed and fitness.
The duration makes the San Juan trail less suitable for sunrise. Even if you’re up for the more challenging hike, you’ll have to get up a lot earlier to be there to enjoy the dawn glow. Of course, it’s possible but this trail is more commonly done during the day.
Santa Juan trail quick facts
- 📏 Distance: 7.9 km (4.9 mi) return
- 📈 Elevation gain: 769 metres (2,523 ft)
- 🪫 Difficulty: hard, very very steep
- ⏰ Duration: 1.5 – 2 hours to reach the summit, a bit less to come down
- 🗺️ Trail map: AllTrails
Do you need a guide for the Indian Nose hike?
Technically, no you don’t have to hike with a guide. The trails are well-made and relatively easy to follow with an online map, and there is no mandate to hike with a guide.
However, there are a few reasons you may decide to go with a guide, most people do.
The first is that if you want to hike for sunrise, and you’re not already staying in Santa Clara or San Juan, it can be difficult to get to the trailhead at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. There aren’t any tuk-tuks around at this time, so by joining a guided tour, you’ll have your transport taken care of.
This was reason enough for us to join a tour, as we really wanted to hike for sunrise and didn’t want to chance not being able to find a tuk-tuk at 4:00 am.
The second and most important reason is that both trails cross private land. You will encounter landowners asking for a fee to access their land. This is totally fair and is very common around Guatemala, but because there is no official system or pricing, tourists can be ripped off.
It can also be intimidating to encounter local farmers with their machetes asking for money, especially if you don’t speak Spanish. You don’t know who to trust, who has the authority to ask for payment, and who is just being opportunistic.
Some tourists feel they are being ‘robbed’ and while legitimate robberies have occurred in the past on this trail, it’s more likely that they have had an awkward encounter with a landowner, rather than actually being robbed or in danger.
I don’t think you need to be concerned for your safety on the trail even if you go without a guide, but you do need to be prepared to pay, and possibly be overcharged.
Going with a guide eliminates all these worries. Payments to the landowners are included in the fee that you pay for your guided tour, and the guides have arrangements with the locals. There is no anxiety or stress about awkward encounters, so you can enjoy the hike.
Plus you don’t have to worry about navigating (which we are notoriously bad at!), especially in the dark before sunrise.
Should you hike Indian Nose at sunrise or during the day?
Personally, I think this is a must-do for sunrise! The views are spectacular and it was a really special moment to see the lake at night with all the twinkly lights of the town before the horizon started to glow up silhouetting the volcanoes and then seeing the sun pop its golden rays over the mountains.
If you went any later in the morning the light would be really harsh, and you wouldn’t get to see the lake looking its vibrant blue colour. However, if you wait until later in the day, the skies can be very hazy and you might not be able to see the volcanoes clearly. Sunset can cast a nice, soft light over the lake but be aware you won’t actually see the sun as it is directly behind the mountain.
If you really want to do the Indian Nose hike without a guide, going during the day would probably be easier, as you’ll be able to get transport to the trailhead, and it will be easier to navigate the trail and any landowner payments in daylight.
Booking your guided Indian Nose hike
The vast majority of guided hikes to Indian Nose run for sunrise via the Santa Clara trail.
Like with anything in Guatemala, there’s always a guide who will happily do something different for you, if you want to go at a different time or via the San Juan trail. You’d have to ask around in town or at your accommodation to get a recommendation for a local guide and organise a private tour.
BOOKING IN PERSON
Back to the sunrise guided hike, these tours are available most commonly from San Pedro but also from San Marcos. You’ll see them advertised everywhere and any travel agent or accommodation can organise a tour for you.
We booked our tour from Maya Travel in San Pedro and we paid 100Q (~$13 USD) each. We shopped around at a few places in town to find the cheapest price. The agency we booked with isn’t rated that well, but honestly, no matter which travel agent or accommodation you book with in town, I think everyone ends up on the same tour.
It was cheap and cheerful, and we had a great experience but if your expectation is to receive a ton of valuable info about the area or personalised attention from your guide, this isn’t the tour for you. Our guide was very friendly, but it’s just transport there, someone leading you up the mountain and bringing you back again. Oh, and we did get some hot coffee and snacks at the summit which was much appreciated in the cold temperatures!
BOOKING ONLINE
If you’d prefer to have something booked online in advance, and you’d like a more thorough, informative experience, here are some recommended tours:
- Sunrise Hike Tour on Indian’s Nose Mountain: this tour option is private and can include pick up from San Pedro, San Marcos and San Juan, or it also has the option for collection via private boat from more distant towns for an extra fee.
- Indian Nose Hiking Adventure (Custom and Private Tour): this private tour is with the highly esteemed local guide Salvador, who leads hikes up all the volcanoes around the lake. It includes pick-up from San Pedro, San Juan and San Marcos.
- Hike for the Sunrise on Indian Nose (Collective): the same great tour by Salvador, just a cheaper shared option. The standard cost includes pick-up from San Juan or San Pedro.
- Indian Nose Peak and Lake Atitlan Sunrise Tour from Panajachel: departing from Panajachel makes the experience a lot longer and you’ll need to get up a hell of a lot earlier! It’s a 90-minute drive to the trailhead, so factor that into the increased cost.
What to bring to the Indian Nose hike
- 🥾 Sturdy shoes: you don’t need hiking boots but definitely wear trainers or runners
- 🧣 Warm clothes: especially for sunrise, it was freezing at the summit and I was glad to have a beanie and puffer jacket
- 🔦 Headtorch: if you’ve got a torch, bring it. The basic tours don’t provide one so you’ll be stuck with your phone light
- 💧 Water: even though it’s cold, you’ll work up a thirst on the steep trail
- 🍩 Snacks: if you’re anything like me and need a reward snack after hiking, bring something with you. Most tours give you coffee and a little sweet at the top, but we also picked up some muffins the day before and I was glad to have them!
- 💰 Cash: to tip your guide or pay the landowners if you’re hiking solo
- 📸 Camera: you will want to take a hundred photos of this stunning view!
- ☔️ Rain protection: unless you’re visiting during the wet season (May – October) you probably don’t need to worry about this, but if I’m packing my camera, I’m packing a waterproof sack to protect it in the off chance of rain.
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Our Indian Nose sunrise hike experience
We’re early risers but even we struggled when our alarm went off at 3:00 am! We were staying on the outskirts of town in San Pedro so we had a short stroll to the travel agent in the centre. We quickly differentiated between the other sleepy-eyed travellers ready to hike, and the rowdy backpackers who were yet to go to bed for the night!
Our guide arrived and spent the next while collecting other travellers who hadn’t woken up to their alarm before we met our shuttle van. It took about 30 minutes to drive to Santa Clara la Laguna where we would start the trail.
At 5:00 am we switched on our head torches, and our group fell into line as we followed our guide through local farmland.
I was a bit worried about how I would feel on the hike, as it was less than a week since I left the hospital in Xela with dengue fever. But, like only a sunrise can, I was completely energised and sped up to the summit in 30 minutes. The last stretch was a little tough with steep switchbacks, but I knew there would be an epic view waiting for us at the top.
I wasn’t wrong! It was almost completely pitch black at the summit, and we could see the twinkly lights of San Juan and San Pedro below. We could just make out the shape of the mountains and volcanoes in the distance, as the horizon began to glow pink and orange.
Our guide pointed out Volcan Fuego in the distance, and as it got a little brighter, we could make out huge puffs of smoke billowing out as it constantly erupted. We could hear distant rumbles, which grew louder until a huge eruption spewed lava all over the side of the volcano, which we could see glowing in the dimly lit sky.
It was absolutely epic, especially given we’d had to cancel our Acatanengo hike a few weeks before as Brayden had food poisoning. (We really did have bad luck in Guatemala, we went back to Antigua to try again, and it was cancelled for the second time due to a massive forest fire on the volcano!).
We spent over an hour at the summit taking in the incredible views and watching the sky change from yellow to orange to pink. I could have sat there all day gazing out at the lake, it felt like we were sitting on top of the world.
Our guide handed around coffee and some sweet bread which was a godsend as it was very cold at the top! We were glad to have packed some extra muffins as my stomach was rumbling at this point.
It wasn’t until 6:35 am that the sun finally peeked over the mountains and an explosion of golden light beamed across the lake. It completely changed the view, and of course, we had to get photos all over again!
Shortly after our guide rounded us up and it was time to go down. The hike down was quick and easy, but a little slippery in parts. It was nice to see the farmland in the light, and we passed avocado, corn and coffee plantations, and local farmers getting an early start on their day.
We were back in San Pedro by 8:00 am and headed straight to Sababa for a delicious breaky, looking directly at the Indian Nose that we had just hiked!
Planning a trip to Lake Atitlan
If you’re planning a trip to Lake Atitlan, I’d recommend reading our Lake Atitlan travel guide. It covers all the important info you need to know about the lake, like getting there, all the different towns, getting around via the lancha boats or by land, and handy tips about the area.
OUR LAKE ATITLAN TRAVEL GUIDES 💙🌋
Indian Nose: Final thoughts
DO NOT MISS this hike in Lake Atitlan. It was the most beautiful morning and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The views are so beautiful and going up for sunrise was extra special. Plus, it’s one of the easier hikes you can do in Guatemala.
We were back in town by 8:00 am and had the entire day free for other activities around Lake Atitlan (admittedly we did have a little snooze later that afternoon after our early wake-up!).
Please keep the trail clean and take out any rubbish you have. Pay local landowners if you’re hiking solo and give your guide a small tip if you’re on a tour. If you encounter any local dogs give them some loving and some food if you can spare any (we always carry a small bag of dog treats in our bag when we travel).
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