Sirao Peak

Sirao Peak, also called Mt. Kan-Irag, rises above Cebu City’s Busay uplands as one of the more accessible day hikes in the metro — a couple of hours up through farmland and forest edge to a grassy summit with the city laid out below. The trail crosses land inside the Central Cebu Protected Landscape, the watershed that supplies a good share of the metro’s water, part of why the upper slopes stay forested this close to a city of nearly a million. Farms lower down the trail grow much of the corn and root crops sold in Cebu City’s public markets — a reminder the highlands are working land before they’re a hiking destination.

The protected-landscape designation puts the upper slopes under DENR oversight rather than open, unmanaged access, though in practice the boundary is maintained as much by the barangays along the trail as by any fencing or checkpoint. That arrangement holds because the communities here have a direct stake in keeping the watershed forested — a degraded upper slope means less reliable water for their own farms before it ever shows up as a problem for the city downhill. Trail maintenance and erosion control on the steeper sections are mostly informal, done by the same residents who guide hikers, rather than by a dedicated park authority.

Sirao Peak carries two names depending on who’s asked — the barangay name most visitors default to, and Mt. Kan-Irag, the name used on older hiking-club maps and by the mountaineering associations that first opened the trail to organized trekking groups. Neither name comes with a settled, well-documented origin story, and guides tend to give a shrug rather than a folk etymology when asked directly.

Most hikers time the climb for sunrise or sunset, when the haze over the city thins and the ridgelines stand out clearly. Camping at the summit is common enough that it draws regular weekend traffic; check trail conditions before heading up.

There’s no restaurant or sari-sari stand at the summit, so hikers carry their own food and water — a packed lunch and at least two litres per person is the standard local advice for a midday climb. The barangay at the trailhead usually has a store or two selling instant noodles, biscuits, and soft drinks, useful for topping up before or after rather than for a full meal. Guiding here is informal but genuinely income-generating for trailhead residents: a fee in the low hundreds of pesos per group, negotiated on the spot rather than posted on a rate card, supplements farm income during the stretches of the year when corn and root-crop yields run lean.

• Trek through farmland, stream crossings, and forest edge to the grassy summit.
• Camp overnight at the top if trail conditions allow it.
• Best light for city-and-highland photos comes at sunrise or sunset.
• Bring your own food and water; hire a guide at the trailhead rather than attempting the route solo.

Explore More in Central Cebu Highlands and Metro Fringe

• Mt. Mago
• Himbabawod Falls
• Campo 7 Forest