diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 85704e345..9c9bf4241 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ clean_eth2_network_simulation_files:
 	rm -rf tests/simulation/{data,validators}
 
 eth2_network_simulation: | build deps p2pd clean_eth2_network_simulation_files process_dashboard
-	+ GIT_ROOT="$$PWD" NIMFLAGS="$(NIMFLAGS)" tests/simulation/start.sh
+	+ GIT_ROOT="$$PWD" NIMFLAGS="$(NIMFLAGS)" LOG_LEVEL="$(LOG_LEVEL)" tests/simulation/start.sh
 
 clean-testnet0:
 	rm -rf build/data/testnet0
diff --git a/scripts/launch_local_testnet.sh b/scripts/launch_local_testnet.sh
index 6620f1f36..918f09eb2 100755
--- a/scripts/launch_local_testnet.sh
+++ b/scripts/launch_local_testnet.sh
@@ -24,13 +24,14 @@ if [ ${PIPESTATUS[0]} != 4 ]; then
 fi
 
 OPTS="ht:n:d:"
-LONGOPTS="help,testnet:,nodes:,data-dir:,disable-htop"
+LONGOPTS="help,testnet:,nodes:,data-dir:,disable-htop,log-level:"
 
 # default values
 TESTNET="1"
 NUM_NODES="10"
 DATA_DIR="local_testnet_data"
 USE_HTOP="1"
+LOG_LEVEL="DEBUG"
 
 print_help() {
 	cat <<EOF
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ CI run: $(basename $0) --disable-htop -- --verify-finalization --stop-at-epoch=5
   -d, --data-dir	directory where all the node data and logs will end up
 			(default: "${DATA_DIR}")
       --disable-htop	don't use "htop" to see the beacon_node processes
+      --log-level	set the log level (default: ${LOG_LEVEL})
 EOF
 }
 
@@ -77,6 +79,10 @@ while true; do
 			USE_HTOP="0"
 			shift
 			;;
+		--log-level)
+			LOG_LEVEL="$2"
+			shift 2
+			;;
 		--)
 			shift
 			break
@@ -113,7 +119,7 @@ else
 fi
 
 NETWORK_NIM_FLAGS=$(scripts/load-testnet-nim-flags.sh ${NETWORK})
-$MAKE LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG NIMFLAGS="-d:insecure -d:testnet_servers_image ${NETWORK_NIM_FLAGS}" beacon_node
+$MAKE LOG_LEVEL="${LOG_LEVEL}" NIMFLAGS="-d:insecure -d:testnet_servers_image ${NETWORK_NIM_FLAGS}" beacon_node
 
 rm -rf "${DEPOSITS_DIR}"
 ./build/beacon_node makeDeposits \
@@ -172,7 +178,7 @@ for NUM_NODE in $(seq 0 $(( ${NUM_NODES} - 1 ))); do
 
 	stdbuf -o0 build/beacon_node \
 		--nat=none \
-		--log-level=TRACE \
+		--log-level="${LOG_LEVEL}" \
 		--tcp-port=$(( ${BOOTSTRAP_PORT} + ${NUM_NODE} )) \
 		--udp-port=$(( ${BOOTSTRAP_PORT} + ${NUM_NODE} )) \
 		--data-dir="${NODE_DATA_DIR}" \
diff --git a/tests/simulation/run_node.sh b/tests/simulation/run_node.sh
index 45bd03b7e..e2e275474 100755
--- a/tests/simulation/run_node.sh
+++ b/tests/simulation/run_node.sh
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ fi
 
 # if you want tracing messages, add "--log-level=TRACE" below
 cd "$DATA_DIR" && $NODE_BIN \
+  --log-level=${LOG_LEVEL:-DEBUG} \
   --bootstrap-file=$BOOTSTRAP_ADDRESS_FILE \
   --data-dir=$DATA_DIR \
   --node-name=$NODE_ID \
diff --git a/tests/simulation/start.sh b/tests/simulation/start.sh
index d67bfa2a7..0abf7fd1e 100755
--- a/tests/simulation/start.sh
+++ b/tests/simulation/start.sh
@@ -120,6 +120,11 @@ fi
   --in="${SIM_ROOT}/beacon-chain-sim-node0-Grafana-dashboard.json" \
   --out="${SIM_ROOT}/beacon-chain-sim-all-nodes-Grafana-dashboard.json"
 
+# propagate the log level
+if [[ -n "${LOG_LEVEL}" ]]; then
+	export LOG_LEVEL="${LOG_LEVEL}"
+fi
+
 # Kill child processes on Ctrl-C by sending SIGTERM to the whole process group,
 # passing the negative PID of this shell instance to the "kill" command.
 # Trap and ignore SIGTERM, so we don't kill this process along with its children.