Lake Pinatubo — Attraction in Zambales

The top destination after 7 kilometer trek from Tarlac going up to the Mt Pinatubo crater which has become a caldera, thus the lake. Trek is a long 14 kms: 7km up and 7 km down. The majestic view is a serene one with the sulphuric still water enclosed in what remains of the Mt Pinatubo crater and collapsed chamber.

Going up the lake, requires a long trek through rough terrain of ash and volcanic stones, crossing rivers and through endless water flows at some points. The scorching heat going up will burn your skin so it is necessary to have sun block , a hat and long sleeves and sturdy walking shoes. And water!

There is a store owned by an Aeta family where you can buy some souvenirs, drinks, candies and chips. This is situated some kilometers after the rough 4x4 ride. At the lake itself, the park personnel also have a store for water and drinks and souvenirs. Buy from them as it is owned and managed by the volunteers of the park.

It is recommended that you start early, buy a walking stick from the local kids at the staging point, and take food for your snacks and lunch as there isnt any resto there when we trekked and even on the lake area itself.

Even with all the struggles and hardship going up, the breathtaking view of the lake relieves everything. Such a wonderful reward! The lake is not for swimming...

Good place to visit once... book through local agency. We started at 3 am in morning and reached by 6... after that we need to sign self declaration form... and then start our journey...

A jeep will be assigned for every 5 members. Every jeep will have one guide and driver... driver will drive till the place jeep can go i.e almost 12 km. After that guide will help to get you to final location.. We spent there 2hrs had food areanged by agency and came back... we are the first batch to start but last one to come back from lake... just due to delay from our side we faced rain in middle for.sometime but managed to come back. It was a gr8 traxking experience... driver skills were awesome... he was driving in such an area where we could not think that jeep will go...

Points to note:Always need to plan to reach at start venue i.e. village area, before 6:30am... so that you can start your travel and come back before 2-3pm... because rain will start and it will be diffcult to come back for jeep if water flow increased in that area.

ensure to use sunscreen lotion to avoid skin issues.. Some of our team faced screen color change because of environment...

A beutifull disaster Indeed! View deck is clean and well maintained. good place to hike. The only drawback is registration/Environmental fee :(. it's 1000 pesos registration fee in total (300 pesos in tarlac and 700 pesos for botolan). Very expensive! I hope that the Department of Tourism will...