Best Hikes In Central America

Here is my list of the best hikes in Central America based on the hikes we did during our travels

We spent around 10 months backpacking through Central and South America and got the chance to do some pretty epic hikes! So I thought I would put together a list of the best hikes in Central America to give you a little inspiration for your trip.

I know it can be pretty tough to choose sometimes, especially when there are so many incredible options but hopefully this will give you a good starting point.

Hiking is one of our favourite things to do when we travel. It is often free, it is good for us and it’s a fantastic way to see the nature and landscapes in a new country.

In this post, I will cover 10 of our favourite hikes From Guatemala down to Panama. They will cover a range of difficulties, lengths and landscapes. There is even an overnight hike.

So let’s get stuck in…

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With this overnight hike, you climb up Acatenango Volcano and camp at the top where you have front-row seats to its active neighbour Fuego. It is super common to get to see Fuego erupting vivid red lava throughout the night.

We were lucky enough to see Fuego erupt lava 3 times and were woken up several more times in the night by the ground shaking from the power of the eruptions.

• Location – Near Antigua in Guatemala
• Distance – 11 miles / 18 Kilometers round trip
• Duration – 2 days
• Difficulty – Hard

⭐️ Take a Look at this 5 star rated overnight hike up Acatenengo Volcano!

Acatenango can be more challenging than you might expect thanks to the rapid increase in altitude. And no, I don’t mean you will be running up the Volcano but you do pretty much just walk at a steep incline for around 6 hours. Before ending up at base camp which is around 3600m!

That is more than twice as high as the highest point in the UK, so I definitely felt the effects. In fact, so did many people and some in our group got pretty bad altitude sickness.

Because of this, I would seriously recommend getting something before you start to help with the altitude. You can ask any pharmacist or GP to help you with this.

You can also opt to do an additional hike on to Fuego to see the Lava from really really close and yet another option to get all the way to the summit of Acatenango. If your legs are feeling up to it. Mine certainly were not!

However, if you do make the effort you will not be disappointed. The unique waterfalls are truly a sight to behold. Even more so from the mirador, viewpoint.

• Location – The closest town is Lanquin, around a 6-hour drive from Guatemala City
• Duration – 45 Minutes
• Difficulty – Hard

⭐️ Have all the hard work done for you with this 3 day tour to Semuc Champey from Guatemala City, including accommodation and a visit to Kamba Caves!

This hike should take around 45 minutes and can be pretty challenging depending on recent rainfall. Don’t let that put you off because everyone who visits will agree that as fun as it is to swim in the waters, the best part of the visit is seeing the falls from the viewpoint.

Lake Atitlan in Guatemala is also home to some great hikes that you can read more about in our separate guide.

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El Salvador is such a wonderful country full of kind people and beautiful nature and so much to do. Here are our favourite Hikes from El Salvador;

You can’t get close to it but the hike takes you up to the ridge of the crater where you can look down into the middle. It is pretty cool!

• Location – Close to Santa Ana
• Length – 4.3 miles / 7km round trip
• Duration – 4 hours
• Difficulty – Moderate

You are also not allowed to do this hike without a Guide, so you can either just turn up and see if there is a guide available to go up with you, or you can book a tour in advance.

⭐️ This is the most highly-rated tour up Santa Ana Volcano!

My TOP TIP for this hike is to NOT DO IT AT THE WEEKEND!!! It is a popular hike among locals and when we did it, it was packed. I am talking about one long, slow-moving queue of people the entire way up.

Funnily enough, this didn’t spoil the hike because the views made it all worth it but be warned this is a popular one and best done on a weekday, early in the morning.

We found it a really easy hike down through the forest. It was just the last little section where we had to climb down some steep steps and over some rocks to reach the waterfalls. This might make them a little inaccessible to some.

• Location – In Tamanique, near El Tunco
• Length – Around 1.8 miles / 3km
• Duration – 3 – 4 hours (with time for swimming)
• Difficulty – Relatively easy

It is good to keep in mind that despite this being a very safe hike, the local authorities will not allow anyone access to the trail without a local guide.

⭐️ You can join this tour which also includes transport from El Tunco and the guided waterfall Hike!

Or you can take the bus and get a guide when you arrive like we did, and we created a full guide on this experience to help you out.

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While in Nicaragua we did a few great hikes and these were our favourites;

This makes it a great place to escape the sun and enjoy some lush green forest for a change. Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for the local wildlife. We were lucky enough to see a sloth snoozing in the trees during this hike.

You can choose to hike all the way up the volcano if you are feeling fit, or you can take a jeep up to the top and do one of the 3 marked hikes around the crater.

We did the shortest of the 3 because we also hiked part way up the side of the volcano.

• Location – Close to Granada
• Length – The crater trail is 1.1 miles / 1.9km
• Duration – 1 hour
• Difficulty – Easy (unless you hike up the volcano too, that bit it STEEP)

There is the option to hike the extended trails but for these, you have to have a guide. However, I would recommend having a local Guide anyway because ours was fantastic!

⭐️ You can’t go wrong with a Guided tour up to the cloud forest like this one!

Our guide spotted the sloth for us, told us all about the local plants and made sure we didn’t take any wrong turns or miss the viewpoints (which we probably would’ve without him).

Yes, you read that right. You hike up to the top of the volcano and then slide back down on a wooden board. Nuts right!?

But it was great fun. At least it was once I had gotten past the fear of being so high up.

• Location – Near Leon
• Length – 1.5 miles / 2.4 km
• Duration – 1 hour
• Difficulty – Hard

What makes this a challenging hike is that you are walking mostly on loose volcanic rubble, Whilst also carrying your wooden board.

The day we did this hike, it was also windy which meant holding on to the boards was even more of a challenge. If this sounds too much for you, they do bring a couple of local men along who you can pay to carry your board up for you. Legends!

We did this hike through Bigfoot Hostel in Leon. They are the most popular company to do it with and they also have a bonfire and drinks on the side of the volcano afterwards which is pretty fun!

If you are torn between Nicaragua and Costa Rica this may help you decide.

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We spent around 3 weeks in Costa Rica and here are some of our favourite hikes;

You hike through the jungle where you get the chance to spot all kinds of wildlife before it opens out into one of the most beautiful secluded beaches.

• Location – Manuel Antonio
• Length – 0.9 miles / 1.5km
• Duration – 3 hours (with time for swimming)
• Difficulty – Super easy

My TOP TIP for visiting Manuel Antonio is to book your ticket to enter the park as soon as they open. It can get very crowded by midday and by going first thing in the morning we had the beaches all to ourselves.

It was lovely!

It is also handy to know that you do have to book online in advance, you can’t buy a ticket at the entrance of the park. You can visit Manuel Antonio National Park without a Guide but if we were to go back again we would definitely get ourselves some experienced eyes.

We saw quite a lot of wildlife but feel like we also missed a lot and a local guide could’ve shown us so much more and also educated us about all that we were seeing. Luckily a guided tour in Manuel Antonio is super affordable compared to the rest of Costa Rica.

⭐️ Check out this incredibly popular Guided tour through Manuel Antonio National Park!

If you are an animal lover like I am then this is the hike for you. I saw more wildlife that day than I saw in the whole 9 months we were in Central America!

This is due to the remote location of the park, the restricted access and the fact that you cannot enter without a guide. They only allow 330 people to enter the National Park each day and because of this, the wildlife lives in perfect harmony still.

• Location – Drake Bay
• Length – Varies around 2-5km
• Duration – All day
• Difficulty – Easy

You reach the National Park by sea and your tour guides will collect you from Drake Bay. The hike is flat and easy to navigate. Your Guide will take you wherever he believes is best but you will generally follow the coastline and return back to the boats when done.

⭐️ This is the exact tour we did for our hike through Corcovado National Park and it was Incredible!

If you are feeling particularly adventurous you can also opt to spend a night in the National Park and do 2 days of Hiking to increase your chances of seeing even rarer species such as Pumas.

⭐️ Check out this EPIC 2-day tour through Corcovado National Park!

• Location – Monteverde
• Length – 1.9 miles / 3km
• Duration – 1.5-2 hours
• Difficulty – Easy

We loved this experience because it is not often you get to go hiking in the treetops. It gives you a chance to get a really unique view of the cloud forest. Not to mention some fantastic wildlife sightings.

⭐️ Book your tour through the beautiful hanging bridges of Selvatura Park!

To have a really memorable day out, I recommend combining your hike with a tour of the Parks zip lines. They have a circuit of 13 ziplines, with one being 1km long! It was wild and so much fun.

⭐️ Don’t miss out on your chance to go across a 1km zipline!

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Panama was another country that I had no real idea what to expect and it just blew me away. If I could pack up and move to anywhere in the world right now it would be Bocas Del Toro in Panama, that is how much I loved it there. We did a great little hike on the islands too.

But that is not the one that has made it onto our list of the best hikes in Central America. This one is;

This is a brilliant hike up through the forests that takes you on a journey to 3 magnificent waterfalls. The 2nd one is my favourite.

The route can be pretty challenging because it is steep and the ground is uneven. If it has rained recently then it is also very muddy and slippery, so keep this in mind.

• Location – Near Boquete
• Length – 2.1 miles / 3.4km
• Duration – 3 hours (with time for swimming etc)
• Difficulty – Challenging

For this hike, you have to take a short bus journey to reach the start. You can also read our full guide to the Lost Waterfalls hike here.

The land is privately owned so you do have to pay to do the hike but you don’t have to have a guide with you. This leaves you free to explore the waterfalls at your own pace.

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• Small Backpack – I have this 35-litre Osprey backpack and it is perfect for day hikes.
• Water Bottle – Our Water-To-Go filter bottles are amazing because we can fill them up from streams and waterfalls as we go!
• Snacks – I’ll let you decide on this one but my go-to hiking snacks are chocolate every time.
• Raincoat – You never know in Central America when you might get a tropical downpour. So having a thin raincoat on you is never a bad idea.
• packing list for Central America.

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  Best Hikes In Central America Top Tips

  Now that you have read our list of the best hikes in Central America, here are some of our top tips to keep in mind when planning your hikes.

  Do you need a guide?

  Many hikes across Central America require you to have a guide, otherwise, you will not be allowed to enter. We have mentioned when this is the case for the hikes we have listed but if you find other hikes you want to try out, always check beforehand if you need to arrange a guide.

  Do you need a map?

  Whether that is a good old-fashioned paper map, a hand-drawn map from your hotel receptionist or an app on your phone, it is good to know where you will be hiking and how you will be able to navigate.

  Take plenty of water

  It is super important that you carry plenty of water for the distance you will be covering but also consider the weather. It may be a short hike but if it is really hot and sunny then you will need more water.

  

  Wear the right shoes

  There is nothing worse than trying to get out and enjoy a good hike but ending up with sore feet and blisters halfway through. To avoid this always try to wear new hiking boots around the house first or for day-to-day things to wear them in.

  Leave no trace

  A super important one and goes without saying really, but always take your stuff with you when you are out in Nature.

  Avoid hiking in the dark

  Sometimes it can be super tempting to get out before sunrise for those epic views and I totally get it. But if you aren’t a confident hiker, or don’t know the area well etc then hiking in the dark can be a tad risky. Always be sure of your route first or have a local guide with you.

  Check the weather forecast

  Last but not least, it is always a good idea to check the weather forecast before you head out on a long hike. The last thing you want is to get halfway up a volcano and end up in a storm.

  In Preparation for your trip to Central America, I put together a list of all the best hostels.

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  Best Hikes In Central America Final Thoughts

  There you have it, our best hikes in Central America based on which hikes we enjoyed the most during our travels in the area. Hopefully, there is something to appeal to everyone there because let’s face it, Central America is incredibly diverse.

  I hope you enjoy your hikes and let us know which ends up being your favourite!