El Salvador 13.85°N, 89.63°W. At 2381m, Santa Ana volcano is the highest volcano in El Salvador. It’s a relatively easy 3 hour loop to the summit. From the crater rim, a spectacular turquoise crater lake lies below. You can easily reach the trailhead by public transport from the beautiful historic city of Santa Ana. This is a brilliant hike in a fascinating country that has only recently opened up to tourism.

Published 29 November by Josef Clifford.

How to do it: you can easily visit the volcano independently from Santa Ana city. Local bus #248 departs daily at 7.30am for the trailhead ($0.70). From there, you meet the guides ($3) who will take you up to the summit. You’ll also need to pay park fees ($3/6). It usually takes people around 3 hours up and down. Organised tours are also available. More info in practicalities section.

How to get to Santa Ana: if coming from Guatemala City, you can take a big bus with Transportes del Sol – book on Busbud. Within El Salvador, there are regular local buses to San Salvador and other locations such as Juayua on the Ruta de las Flores. More information in the practicalities section.

Safety and security: Santa Ana is an active volcano. The most recent eruption was in 2005. Future eruptions are possible. Check latest activity reports here.

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> A country in transition
> Visiting Santa Ana volcano
> Volcanology
> Practicalities and more to see in the region

A country in transition

El Salvador has gone through a massive transformation in recent years. The country went from having one of the highest murder rates in the world to one of the safest countries in Latin America in just a few years.

Following changes in immigration laws in the late 1990s, the US began to deport thousands of Salvadoran criminals back to their home country.¹ This came at a time when the Salvadoran state was emerging from a decade long civil war and was too weak to manage such an influx.

These criminals brought their experience with organised gangs in the US back to El Salvador. Soon, the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs, among others, were terrorising urban centres up and down the country. With the country in a state of economic stagnation, the gangs didn’t have trouble with recruitment. The gangs demanded extortion, committed murders and assaults, and were involved in human and drug trafficking.

President Bukele came into power in 2019 and in 2022, he spearheaded a massive crackdown on gangs. As of 2025, this has resulted in the detainment of 84,000 people.² These actions were not free of controversy and some human rights groups have claimed this has resulted in many being wrongly imprisoned. On the other hand, many locals I spoke to said it was a price they were willing to pay for safer streets.

Visiting Santa Ana volcano

Originally I had planned to go on a tour to the volcano. However, someone I met at the hostel in Santa Ana mentioned it was very easy to organise yourself. In fact, quite a few others in the hostel wanted to do the same thing. So, a few of us set off early to the local bus station and took the local bus to the trailhead.

It’s easy to find the bus as many other tourists had the same idea. The rickety old bus rattled along for two hours, stopping and starting to pick up and drop off locals. There’s beautiful views of Coatepeque Lake off to the right as you head up the slopes of Santa Ana.

At the trailhead, we met the guides. They only spoke Spanish but even if you don’t speak any, you quickly pick it up when travelling around Central America out of necessity. You get a wristband, apparently obligatory for any tourist activity in Central America. They really do love wristbands here!

The trail started off with a gradual incline. We reached a metal viewing tower with a slightly sketchy series of switchback ladders and views of the summit and other nearby peaks. Then the trail became much steeper and rockier. However, it wasn’t too difficult. Nothing like Fuego in neighbouring Guatemala and it only takes a couple of hours to reach the summit.

At the summit, there were a couple of vendors selling Salvadoran snacks like charamuscas (a fruit syrupy icy treat) and chocobananas (you can probably guess what those are), as well as cold drinks. We wandered around the crater rim for a while, looking down into the stunning turquoise lake below. On the other side were beautiful views over nearby Izalco volcano and Coatepeque Lake.

After a while, we headed back down. The trail was quite busy at this point with more people coming up. When we reached the bottom, it was only a short wait for the bus back down to Santa Ana, which came just after 1pm. All in all, it was very easy as there are many other tourists doing the same thing, so you’d struggle to get lost.

A bit of volcanology

Santa Ana volcano is a large stratovolcano sitting to the south of Santa Ana city. It’s one of 19 Holocene volcanoes (volcanoes that have erupted during the past 12,000 years-ish)³ packed into this tiny Central American country. It has produced a range of lavas in the past, from runny (low viscosity) basalt to thicker (more viscous) andesite.⁴ Inside the crater is a vivid turquoise crater lake. The colour results from deposits of sulfur and other volcanic gases and minerals. Although it has a maximum temperature of 57.5°C,⁵ it’s highly acidic so don’t attempt to have a bath in there.

The slopes of the volcano rise steeply above the rim of the Coatepeque Caldera. This 6.5×11.5km caldera was formed due to the collapse of a larger summit during major rhyolitic eruptions between 72 and 51 thousand years ago. Today, the caldera is home to lake with hot springs dotted around the margins.

Small to moderate eruptions have been observed from the summit and flank vents of Santa Ana since the 16th Century. In 1722, a lava flow from the San Marcelino cinder cone on the southeast flank travelled 13km to the east.⁶

The most recent eruption occurred in 2005, reaching 3 on the volcanic explosivity index (VEI). Two deaths were reported, as well as 7 injuries. Many people were evacuated. Far more dramatic, a major event during the late Pleistocene period resulted in a debris avalanche that reached as far as the Pacific ocean.

Like Santiaguito in Guatemala (see my previous post here), Santa Ana lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire – a ring of volcanoes and frequent earthquakes surrounding the Pacific ocean. The volcano is part of the Central American Volcanic Arc, a chain of volcanoes extending all the way from Guatemala to northern Panama.

The oceanic Cocos Plate converges with the continental Caribbean plate and subducts beneath it due to the higher density of oceanic crust. As the plate subducts, it heats up and melts. This molten rock, or magma, eventually reaches the surface to form volcanoes like Santa Ana.

Practicalities

Santa Ana city: the closest city to Santa Ana volcano is it’s namesake Santa Ana. A beautiful city, it’s worth spending a few days here to explore it and the surrounding area. I’d highly recommend this walking tour. Run by Fatima, a lovely local girl, it was highly informative and she shared some of her personal experiences of growing up amid rampant gang violence.

Where to stay: in Santa Ana, I stayed at Hostal Casa Verde. Often the highest rated hostel in El Salvador, it has a friendly social atmosphere. You’ll find a range of other accommodation options on Hostelworld and Tripadvisor. Many people also choose to stay close to Coatepeque Lake – a good option if you’re looking to be based more in nature.

Getting to the volcano: whilst it may seem confusing to organise, it’s actually very easy to reach the volcano. You can take local bus #248 ($0.70, 2 hours) from Sala de Espera y Abordaje “La Vencedora.” Whilst there are a number of buses throughout the day, you should take the one at 7.30AM to get there in time to meet the guides. Get off at the trailhead, where you’ll meet the guides and pay the guide fee ($3). You’ll walk a few minutes from here to the park office, where you need to pay the park fees ($6 for foreigners / $3 for locals). The guides will take you up to the summit and back to the road. You’ll be back in time for the bus back to Santa Ana, which departs between 1pm and 1.30pm.

Tours: as mentioned, you can easily visit Santa Ana volcano independently. However, if you prefer something more organised, you can go on a tour. You’ll find options on Tripadvisor here.

When to go: the best time to visit is during the dry season, from November to March. Temperatures are highest between May and September, although there is only limited seasonal variation. You’ll see much greater temperature variation depending on altitude. I went at the end of April and conditions were good. Very hot in the city, but still quite manageable on the hike.

Language: Spanish is the official language in El Salvador. Unlike neighbouring Guatemala, indigenous languages are almost extinct, with just a few hundred speakers remaining.

More to see in the region: for volcanoes, nearby Izalco is a more challenging climb. It’s a steeper and more rocky ascent and takes 3-4 hours up and down. Other volcanoes in El Salvador include San Salvador volcano and San Miguel volcano in the east (a good stop off if you’re heading on to Nicaragua). I wouldn’t personally recommend San Salvador volcano. I went with the plan of hiking around the crater rim but this path is now closed and you can only go to a series of manicured viewpoints.

Nearby Ruta de las Flores is beautiful. It can be explored by scooter, bus or on a tour. If you’re feeling adventurous and fancy rappelling up some waterfalls, I’d recommend Pacheando Tours to the Seven Waterfalls.

Most people visit El Salvador as part of a larger trip around the region. In neighbouring Guatemala, you can do the famous Fuego hike (post coming soon) or visit the continuously erupting Santiaguito volcano. And there’s plenty of non-volcanic things going on as well!

1. Congressional Research Service. ↩︎
2. US Congress. ↩︎
3.  Holocene volcanoes are those that have erupted during the Holocene period, which approximately covers the past 12,000 years. There are many more volcanoes which are considered inactive ↩︎
4. Volcano Discovery – Oregon University. ↩︎
5. Global Volcanism Program – according to testing in July 2007. ↩︎
6. Global Volcanism Program. ↩︎