Honduras: El Poy > Copan

Nov 2025 |

My first ride in Honduras, to one of the world's great historical sites and a cool colonial town.

My day started at 9:00 am at El Zonte in El Salvador. It was about 1:30 pm once I entered Honduras (see my last post about crossing the border). Given the sentiment around security in Honduras, I had spent some time researching the route from El Poy to Copan. Google Maps was showing 2 options, one 60 minutes shorter, but off the highway, presumably through the mountains and close to the Guatemala border. Now, I had a premonition that this route is risky and a bad idea to pursue. But, me being me, it was hard to discount the shorter route, given that Google was offering it (incredibly silly thinking on my behalf, given Google's often poor routing). Anyways, thank god, I looked up this route on iOverlander and there was a post about an armed robbery suffered by a solo rider, including gunshots fired. So it was official: I was taking the longer route, the CA-4 (I also watched a video about this route,"the most dangerous road in Honduras", per the creator).

I set off from Ocotaquque, up and over some gnarly mountain road, much of it under construction. By the time I reached the turn-off for Copan at La Entrada, it was dark. Now, I know better than to ride after dark, and Honduras is absolutely no exception, but I was a man on a mission to get to Copan. This final stretch of road is twisty and rural, running along a river valley. Luckily, there was not much traffic, and my high beams illuminated the road well enough to keep me one step ahead of any diversions, such as potholes, cows, etc.

As I had no internet, on arrival I stopped at a pizza place, ordered, connected, and booked a room at Mary's Hotel, a decent stay.

The next day I woke up early and rode the 1km to the Copan ruins site and toured for about 90 minutes. This is an incredible place, different than the sites I had visited in Mexico City and Oaxaca. It's much more compact, set in the jungle, with overgrowth as at Angkor Wat. There weren't many tourists. One of the highlights of Copan is the flock of scarlet macaws that reside there, accentuating an already surreal scene.

After visiting the ruins, I headed back to the hotel and picked up my gear. I had a chance to look around town a bit. It's a historical place, cobblestone roads, with some insanely steep side streets that I dared not try and ride down.

This trip was a great intro to Honduras.

Ride: 205 km / 6 hrs