El Mirador

El Mirador was a Maya city at its height between roughly the sixth century before the common era and the first century of it, in the Preclassic period long before Tikal reached its peak, and it was very large: a group of enormous platform and pyramid complexes connected by raised causeways running for kilometres through swamp forest. The largest of them, La Danta, is among the biggest pyramids in the world measured by volume, though it is so overgrown that it reads as a forested hill until you are on it. Getting there means a trek of two days each way from Carmelita through mud and jungle with mules, or a helicopter charter.

History

El Mirador flourished from about the 6th century BC to the 1st century AD, reaching its height from the 3rd century BC, then saw a pause in building and perhaps abandonment for generations, before it was reoccupied in the Late Classic and finally abandoned around the end of the 9th century. The Maya fed its large population by carrying thousands of tonnes of mud from the seasonal swamps to build fertile terraces, and they linked its great complexes, such as El Tigre, 55 metres high, and La Danta, about 72 metres from the forest floor, with raised causeways called sacbeob, "white roads" (Wikipedia, El Mirador).

What's there

• La Danta complex - among the largest pyramids anywhere by volume.
• Raised causeways through swamp - the roads linking the city's groups.
• Preclassic architecture - construction centuries before Tikal's peak.
• Forest that has swallowed a city - pyramids reading as wooded hills.

When to go

January to April, the dry season; the trek is close to impossible in the rains. Five to six days on foot, or a day by helicopter at very high cost. Everything is arranged in Flores or Carmelita.

Before you go

The trek is genuinely hard: mud, heat, insects and long days, camping without facilities. Structures are largely unexcavated and covered in forest, so there is less to see than the scale suggests. Helicopter charters are extremely expensive. Book with an established operator.

Nearby

Carmelita is south; Tikal lies far to the south-east.

Key facts