Volcán San Juan, Volcano in Nayarit, Mexico

Volcán San Juan is a mountain in central Nayarit that rises to 2,240 meters (7,350 feet) above sea level and forms part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The formation displays volcanic features with a caldera and lava flows extending from the main peak.

The volcano began with a dacitic lava dome; thick lava flows ran up to 5 km from the vent before later explosions destroyed them. Ash and pumice deposits from Plinian eruptions reached the eastern foot of the hill at Tepic. In 1540, when the first Franciscan convent in the region was founded at Xalisco, a conqueror renamed the Sierra Mixtepec as Sierra de San Juan Bautista.

In 1540, when the first Franciscan convent in the region was founded in Xalisco, one of the conquerors baptized the mountain Mixtepec as Sierra de San Juan Bautista. The name refers to John the Baptist, and the sierra is still called San Juan today.

A trail starts at the Tepic ring road and ends at La Batea, a flat area on the summit used for picnics; experienced hikers can continue about 1.5 hours to the crater, where the Pacific and, on clear days, the Islas Marías are visible. Rain falls mainly from June to October, and January is the coldest month.

The summit trail ends at La Batea, a flat clearing on top of the cerro used for picnics; from there the crater of the volcano is about an hour and a half further on foot. On clear days the Pacific Ocean and the Islas Marías can be seen from the crater rim.