Mountain Biking in Quiché - the Mayan Heartland

The Mayan Heartland. Quiché is one of Guatemala’s largest and most diverse departments and loaded with trails to explore.

Mountain biking in Quiché Guatemala is just beginning to explode. The area is home to cool weather, light pine forests, and deep canyons connected by a dense web of ancient Mayan paths. Quiché cyclists here are among the most enthusiastic and well trained riders in the country practicing their sport on massive mountains.

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Mountain Biking in Quiché Guatemala

The variety of mountain biking in quiché is as broad as the department. Connect ancient aqueducts in the 3100m+ pine forests of María Tecún. Cross deep canyons of Chichicastenango and observe steep, pre-Hispanic terraced agriculture. Explore the frontier of mountain biking in the towering Cuchumatánes mountains, and Nebaj to the north. Quiché is full of micro climates including cold forests, tropical pockets of fruit and banana and and inland desert dubbed “el corridor secco”.

Remote 4×4 roads and ancestral Mayan trails spider through the department crossing ripping chains of mountains that define the Chixoy-polochic geological fault.

Santa Cruz del Quiché Mountain Biking

Capital of the department – located in the heart of the Guatemalan mountains Santa Cruz serves as the trading post for the numerous indigenous villages throughout the department. Seldom visited by tourists the town is a mixture of dense urban markets, and and cattle pastures. The terrain in Quiché is incredibly steep, split by 300m deep deep barrancos (canyons).

Mountain biking near Quiché Guatemala with some of the awesome locals. Lemoa Quiche, Guatemala

LOS ESCARABAJOS QUICHÉ

(The beetles 🙂 This local cycling group has grown substantially in the last couple of years, mapping hundreds of miles of trails in the region and promoting the sport with yearly events and races.