Top 10 Volcanoes in Bolivia
Bolivia's active volcanism sits on the western edge of the country, along the Chilean border, where the Altiplano meets the western Cordillera. The landscape is high, dry, and so unlike anywhere else on Earth that it has been used as a Mars analogue. These ten anchor it.
1. Sajama
The highest peak in Bolivia at 6,542 m — a dormant stratovolcano in the heart of Sajama National Park, sacred to the Aymara and surrounded by queñua woodlands that grow higher than any other tree on the planet.
2. Parinacota
Shared with Chile, the perfectly conical volcano of the Cordillera Real sits at the centre of one of the most photographed views in South America, beside Lake Chungará.
3. Pomerape
Parinacota's twin, slightly lower and more eroded. Together the pair are called the Payachatas — the "twins" of the Aymara.
4. Uturuncu
A potentially restless 6,008 m volcano in southwest Bolivia whose slow ground uplift is closely studied; sometimes climbed as the world's highest "drive-up" volcano via mining roads.
5. Licancabur
Shared with Chile near San Pedro de Atacama, an iconic conical volcano with a high-altitude crater lake — sacred to Atacameños and a classic acclimatised climb.
6. Ollagüe
A 5,868 m active stratovolcano on the Chile–Bolivia border, with sulphur fumaroles and a remarkable view over the Salar de Coipasa.
7. Tunupa
Rises above the northern edge of the Salar de Uyuni — a dramatic backdrop volcano, climbed from the village of Coqueza for one of the great salt-flat panoramas.
8. Cerro Tata Sabaya
A near-symmetrical cone north of the Salar de Coipasa, on the Chilean border, with debris avalanches that reshape the surrounding plain.
9. Nuevo Mundo
A young volcanic dome in the southwest, the most recently active of Bolivia's volcanoes, with steam emissions still observable in places.
10. Cerro Caquella
A high-altitude volcano in the Sur Lípez region near the famous Salar de Uyuni multi-day route — visited as a backdrop rather than climbed.
How Bolivia's volcanoes fit a trip
Most travellers see Bolivian volcanoes from the multi-day Salar de Uyuni 4×4 circuit, which loops past Tunupa, Ollagüe, Licancabur, and the coloured lakes of the Sur Lípez. Sajama is a separate trip from La Paz via Oruro.
Altitude and access
Everything is high. Even "easy" Bolivian volcanoes start above 4,500 m; serious acclimatisation in La Paz, Sucre, or Sajama is essential. The Servicio Nacional de Geología y Técnico de Minas (SERGEOMIN) maintains basic volcanic surveillance.
See them on the map
Filter the map to Bolivia and the volcanoes appear strung along the western border in the Sur Lípez and Sajama regions. Combine with the Chilean Atacama volcanoes for a continuous high-altitude trip.