Catarata Escondita/Catarata La Cangreja : Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering : SummitPost

The first destination is Liberia, the largest city in NW Costa Rica. There are hourly buses to Liberia from San Jose from the terminal at Calle 24 and Avenida 5.

Liberia now has a major airport. Call SANSA at (Int) 221-9414 for information.

There is public transportation available to the trailhead from Liberia. Small tourist buses leave from several inexpensive hotels south of the town square in Liberia. Two of the hotels are Hotel Liberia and La Posada de Tope. Transport cost $10 a person and leaves Liberia at 7AM and leaves the trailhead at 4PM arriving back at Liberia at 5PM.

Route Description

This is a hike to the spectacular waterfalls that are in the area. From the trailhead, follow the trail posted for Rincon de la Vieja. Take a left at the first junction. The trail has many ups and downs and crosses a few streams on bridges. There is also a short a side trail down to a beautiful river pool for swimming. We heard and saw howler monkeys in this area. After the second stream crossing, there is a trail junction. The trail to the right heads steeply up the hill to Cataratas Escondito. The trail to the left goes to Catarata La Cangreja. Both are worth the visit. The total one way distance from the trailhead is 4.3 km for the Cataratas Escondito and 5 kms for the Catarata La Cangreja.

Essential Gear

A good pair of boots and rain gear is needed. Don't forget a camera and a swimsuit either!

Miscellaneous Info

If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.

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