Sacapulas

Sacapulas is a town in Guatemala.

Get in

Buses are available from Santa Cruz del Quiché. Buses from there to Uspantan pass through Sacapulas.

See

Exposed structure at Xutixtiox

• 1 Xutixtiox (Chutixtiox). Xutixtiox is an overgrown Maya ruin on a mountaintop outside of Sacapulas. It is unrestored, but there is some exposed architecture, including surviving stucco facades. To get there, take a taxi, tuk-tuk or bus to Los Trapichitos, about 5km along the highway west towards Santa Cruz del Quiché. Stop when the highway passes beside the river and climbs with an evangelical church on the right and a school on the left, just before Los Trapichitos itself. Follow a path down beside the church, and keep going amongst peasant houses until you reach the river bank. The river needs to be waded, ask locally for the best place to cross, which probably changes after every rain season (the river will be impassable during the rains). In January 2016, the best place to cross was a sandbank about 0.75km northwest along the river, just past some rapids and a sharp left-hand bend in the river, and more-or-less opposite a solitary shack on the far bank. The current is fairly strong, and crossing near the rapids is not recommended. Once across, follow the path to the right (eastwards), climbing the mountainside and gradually turning southeast onto the headland in a bend of the river. After crossing a narrow ridge, the ruins become evident, with a number of structures, including an overgrown pyramid. (updated Feb 2016)

Go next

Buses from Santa Cruz del Quiché pass through Sacapulas and head up to Uspantán in the Cuchumatanes mountains. From Uspantán, it is possible to continue to Cobán, with connections there for Petén. Microbuses from Sacapulas go to Aguacatán, with connections there for Huehuetenango. Buses to Santa Cruz del Quiché connect for travel onwards to Chichicastenango and direct buses to Guatemala City that pass Los Encuentros on the Pan-American Highway, with excellent transport links onwards to major towns and cities such as Huehuetenango, Quetzaltenango, and Chimaltenango.