Laguna Chichoy, Tecpán: Q10 Entry, Trout Ponds, Camping and the Km 102 Turn-Off

Laguna Chichoy is a trout-pond ecopark on Finca Chichoy, near Tecpán, Chimaltenango, at 2,600 metres above sea level: entry is Q10 (children under 6 free), it opens daily 9:00-17:00 with 24-hour camping, and you reach it by leaving the CA-1 at kilometre 102 toward aldea Chichoy and climbing a dirt road from beside the Restaurante Chichoy. Those figures are listed by the Ministry of Culture’s SIC directory (undated, checked 9 November 2026); Guatemala.com confirmed the Q10 entry on 27 August 2026. Call ahead on 55530825, the number the SIC listing gives.

In short: Q10 entry, Q5 rod rental, camping Q25 (per person on the SIC listing, per tent in Guatemala.com’s August 2026 report). Cash only, bring your own camping gear and warm clothes. The final 6-7 km are unpaved; a 4x4 helps after rain.

Quick summary

Getting there by road

The SIC listing describes a single approach: drive the Inter-American Highway (CA-1) to kilometre 102, where a turn-off leads to aldea Chichoy, and from there climb a dirt road that starts right beside the Restaurante Chichoy. Deguate’s page (last updated July 2015) gives the same kilometre and names the roadside business as restaurant and cafeteria Chichoy Agua Escondida; it puts the dirt road at 7 kilometres uphill to the finca entrance.

Guatemala.com’s August 2026 article gives the unpaved section as the last 6 kilometres and says it can have difficult stretches. Any vehicle can make it, it says, but a double-traction car is the more comfortable option, and it advises checking the car and the weather before setting out. The approach from Tecpán crosses rural areas and patches of forest.

By bus: neither the SIC listing nor Guatemala.com describes a bus connection or a pick-up service to the ecopark; both describe the drive.

What you pay, and the camping discrepancy

Entry and rod rental are consistent across the sources that publish them: Q10.00 to get in (the SIC adds that children under 6 enter free) and Q5.00 to rent a fishing rod.

Camping is where they part. The SIC directory lists the camping area at Q25.00 per person. Guatemala.com, writing on 27 August 2026, gives Q25.00 per tent and adds that payment is cash only, so bring enough money from Tecpán. For a group sharing one tent the difference is real; ask when you call.

What is at Laguna Chichoy

According to the SIC listing, the property is an old finca of Swiss-German origin that has worked as a natural ecopark for more than twenty years. The lagoon itself, fed by springs from the surrounding mountains, sits in the upper part of the finca and is the centre of the park. The listing describes:

• Trout ponds. Recreational fishing in pools where trout are raised. Deguate’s page says the finca breeds rainbow trout and, for an additional price, hands you the tools to catch your own and prepare it there.
• Trails and picnic areas, across more than three caballerías of land open for walking, mountain biking and exploring.
• Camping overnight with your own equipment, with the warning that temperatures can drop considerably after dark.
• Farm animals: geese, ducks, cows, sheep and goats.
• Rustic cabins and traditional structures, including a water wheel, plus picnic areas.

Guatemala.com adds that there is no rental or sale of camping gear, so sleeping bags, warm clothes and food all come with you.

Mountain biking

Laguna Chichoy’s other identity is as a mountain-bike destination. The SIC listing and the tour operator MTB Guatemala both say the finca’s trails offer elevation changes of more than 1,000 metres, dropping toward the canyons of dry riverbeds. Both name the Rompe Piernas cross-country marathon, held each May in neighbouring Tecpán, as one of the events that passes through the finca, and MTB Guatemala says it rides through Laguna Chichoy on the second day of its Tecpán-to-Panajachel tour toward Lake Atitlán.

The lagoon also matters downstream: the SIC listing says it feeds a network of canyons and rivers that form the headwaters of the río Madre Vieja, which flows to the Pacific coast.

Weather and what to bring

At 2,600 metres, among what the SIC listing calls the cold pine forests of Tecpán, nights at Chichoy are cold. Deguate reports rain concentrated from June to November and the lowest temperatures from December to January or February, down to 4°C. Guatemala.com recommends comfortable shoes, cold-weather clothing, water and food, and full camping kit if you are staying the night.

The finca lies near the aldeas of Agua Escondida and Chichoy, where, the SIC listing says, Kaqchikel Maya is the predominant language and Spanish is also spoken.

Nearby

• Tecpán Guatemala, the municipality the ecopark belongs to.
• Iximché ruins, entry fee and hours for the archaeological site.
• Los Aposentos, the lake park outside the town of Chimaltenango.
• Chimaltenango department.

Sources

• Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Sistema de Información Cultural (SIC), listing Laguna de Chichoy, undated, read 9 November 2026.
• Guatemala.com, Laguna Chichoy en Tecpán, published 27 August 2026, read 9 November 2026. Travel site, secondary.
• Deguate, Finca Chichoy, published March 2013, updated July 2015, read 9 November 2026. Travel site, secondary.
• MTB Guatemala, Ecoparque Laguna Chichoy, Tecpán, dated 15 April 2020, read 9 November 2026. Tour operator, secondary.