Iztaccihuatl-Popocatepetl National Park

A National Park (1935) Around The Two Great Volcanoes Of Central Mexico: Popocatepetl (5,426 M), An Active Smoking Cone, And Iztaccihuatl (5,230 M), The Sleeping Woman, Whose Snowy Ridge Outlines A Reclining Figure. The Pass Between Them, Paso De Cortes At About 3,600 M, Is Reached By Road, And The Izta Summit Is A Serious Climb. Access To Popocatepetl Is Closed Above A Safety Radius Because Of Its Activity · Amecameca, Estado de México

Iztaccihuatl-Popocatepetl National Park protects the two great volcanoes that frame the skyline east of Mexico City: Popocatepetl at 5,426 m, an active cone that often sends up a plume of steam and ash, and Iztaccihuatl at 5,230 m, the Sleeping Woman, whose snowy ridge looks like a reclining figure. Most visitors drive up from the village of Amecameca, about 65 km from Mexico City, to the Paso de Cortes at roughly 3,600 m, the pass between the two peaks where the Spanish under Cortes crossed in 1519. From there you can walk short forest trails, look across to both summits and, on a clear day, see the Valley of Mexico on one side and Puebla on the other. Popocatepetl is ACTIVE and a closed exclusion radius surrounds the crater, so confirm the current CENAPRED traffic-light alert level before you leave and never go inside the exclusion zone. Climbing Izta by the Arista del Sol from La Joya is a serious glacier-and-altitude route that needs experience and a guide. The park suits day-trippers who want cool air, pine forest and big views, and keen mountaineers.

Paso de Cortes, the pass between Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl, reached by road from Amecameca, about 65 km south-east of Mexico City; coordinates approximate, Amecameca, Estado de México, Mexico

The park is a high-mountain area with no fixed hours for the open air, but the road from Amecameca to Paso de Cortes is normally passable by day only, roughly from early morning to late afternoon, and a gate or ranger post may turn cars back at dusk. Walking the viewpoints and forest trails is usually FREE or costs only a small park fee, commonly MXN 40-100. The road or the whole zone can be CLOSED without notice when Popocatepetl raises its alert level, in heavy snow or in storms, so confirm with CENAPRED, the park office or a local operator in Amecameca. Lodge, hut and food-stall hours are informal and weather dependent, and the Tlamacas lodge status is uncertain, so confirm before counting on a bed or a meal. Climbers start in the middle of the night to reach the ridge before the afternoon cloud.

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