Nevado de Toluca, National park in State of Mexico, Mexico

Nevado de Toluca is a dormant volcano in the State of Mexico, with two crater lakes sitting above 15000 feet (about 4560 meters). The national park stretches across high grasslands and alpine zones where air thins and vegetation grows sparse.

The Mexican government declared this area a protected zone in 1936 to safeguard the country's fourth highest peak. Authorities later expanded its boundaries to include more ecosystems and regulate access.

The name Xinantécatl only appeared in print in 1854, when Nahuatl place names were being revived; early colonial sources instead record Chicnauhtécatl, "Nine Hills", tied to the nine lakes and to Chicnahuapan, the springs of the Lerma. Nahua villages such as San Mateo Almomoloa still walk to the crater in pilgrimage, praying with copal and watching the water.

The road into the caldera is now gated about 2 km before the lakes, so the last stretch is covered on foot in roughly 40 minutes. Access passes a first booth at the foot of the volcano and a second one about 6 km from the crater. The final climb has many curves and narrow sections, and fog occurs on about 78 days a year.

The elliptical crater holds two permanent lakes called Sun and Moon, sitting at roughly the same elevation. Archaeologists have found offerings from pre-Hispanic times in their waters, including copal resin and ceramics.