Mount Banahaw (; also spelled as Banahao and Banájao) is an active complex volcano on Luzon in the Philippines. The three-peaked volcano is located at the boundary of Laguna and Quezon provinces. It is the highest mountain in both provinces and Calabarzon region, dominating the landscape for miles around. The mountain is considered by many as a holy mountain, thus a bundok dambana, and is popular among pilgrims along with mountain climbers. It is located in a protected area known as Mounts Banahaw–San Cristobal Protected Landscape covering of land. Physical characteristics The andesitic Banahaw volcanic complex is composed of several stratovolcanoes with Mount Banahaw, the largest with a maximum elevation of above mean sea level. The summit is topped by a and deep crater that is breached on the southern rim believed to have been caused by the 1730 eruption. Prior to 1730, a lake occupied the summit crater of Mount Banahaw. The resulting flood destroyed the town of Sariaya, Quezon located below the mountain. Other peaks: Mount San Cristobal (on the western slope) Mount Banahaw de Lucban (at northeastern slope) Buho Masalukot Domes (at southwestern slope) Mount Mayabobo Maars: Lake Dagatan/Gunao Lake and Lake Ticob Thermal Areas: Tiaong-San Pablo hot/warm springs Bakia warm/cold springs Sampaloc warm springs Mainit hot/warm springs Cagsiay hot/warm springs Importance to locals Banahaw is a custom pilgrimage site for locals, believed by many as a holy mountain, a spiritually-charged location. The mountain and its environs are considered sacred by local residents; the water from its sacred springs are deemed "holy water" for allegedly having beneficial qualities, issuing forth from locations called "puestos" or "holy sites". These sites are unique natural features composed not only of springs, but also caves, streams and boulders; with names with biblical allusions, and shrines erected in, on or around them. These locations were allegedly revealed to a man named Agripino Lontoc by the "Santong Boses" or the "Holy Voices", which also gave the names to these places way back during the Spanish colonial era. Another one of these mountains is the adjacent Mount Banahaw de Lucbán. Banahaw is also a part of the Makiling-Banahaw Watershed, a reservation of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) providing steam for power generation, as well as water source for domestic and industrial uses. Hiking activity on Banahaw The mountain is popular not only with pilgrims but also among mountain climbers being the closest over mountain