Rio Cajon
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 4.41 mi
- Elevation gain
- 922 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 922 ft
- Max elevation
- 2,351 ft
- TrailRank
-
47
2.2
- Min elevation
- 1,873 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Time
- one hour 58 minutes
- Coordinates
- 730
- Uploaded
- February 27, 2016
- Recorded
- February 2016
near Ángeles, Alajuela (Republic of Costa Rica)
Viewed 2814 times, downloaded 26 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
This is a hike to a waterfall on the Cajon River and then back to the start point in Atenas. It is based on the Wiki trail Catarata Rio Cajon (submitted by Guifran). Some of this track may be on private property, after ascending a stair case and following a road there was a gate across the road, fortunately the owner was leaving just as I was so no fence climbing was required.
Edit: See the comments section below! To avoid private property - "take the left when you see the telecommunication tower". If anyone is successful please post details below! Thanks.
Some nice neighborhoods, the river walking wasn't easy (jumping from stone to stone) but at one point I did pick up a narrow path on the south side of the river. The river may not be navigable in all seasons. It was the dry season when I hiked, water levels were low and hiking on the banks and river bed was manageable. The highlight is definitely the waterfall, retracing your steps from the waterfall (like Guifran's entry) is also a good option.
I parked my car in a small parkette just off the main road (highway #3). There are several places for refreshment along this road.
Edit: See the comments section below! To avoid private property - "take the left when you see the telecommunication tower". If anyone is successful please post details below! Thanks.
Some nice neighborhoods, the river walking wasn't easy (jumping from stone to stone) but at one point I did pick up a narrow path on the south side of the river. The river may not be navigable in all seasons. It was the dry season when I hiked, water levels were low and hiking on the banks and river bed was manageable. The highlight is definitely the waterfall, retracing your steps from the waterfall (like Guifran's entry) is also a good option.
I parked my car in a small parkette just off the main road (highway #3). There are several places for refreshment along this road.
Waypoints
Intersection
River
1,914 ft
River Y
Small path led down to the river, follow it upstream to your left. The river splits into two sections going down stream.
Waterfall
Waypoint
2,047 ft
Steps
There is a series of concrete steps that get you up the side of the river. It is a significant climb!
Comments (9)
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I have followed this trail View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Moderate
We went in the rainy season on a sunny Saturday. Levels of the river increase tremendously during the rain storms and drag a lot of debris. Trail was pretty clear to follow except for those Rock hopping moments. Owner of land above stairs (those were a lot of stairs) wasn't around so, had to pry gate open. Loved the small stores with great selection of beverages after a good sweat down the waterfall treck.
Locals were a huge resource to getting to the right spot to start trail. Even cab drivers knew where to get us started.
When I did the hike I was thinking I would never be able to get up the river's embankment and then out of nowhere this amazing set of steps (and there was a lot of them).
A remarkable discovery for sure
Amazing spot but I would NOT recommend going up the stairs as an attempted way out. We did this and got to the gate, which was shut and locked. This gate closes off several houses from the road beyond, and one man from a nearby house yelled at us that it was prohibited for us to be there and when I said we were trying to get to the road (in Spanish, I'm tica), he replied for us to go back the way we came. I said we came from the river and he said ok go back that way. Not awesome going up all those stairs just to encounter a dead end with a grumpy old jerk and have to walk all the way back down!
yes, just as I noted in my description. A warning sign at the bottom would be really nice.
I have followed this trail View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Moderate
PLEASE READ BEFORE TAKING THIS TRAIL ** We followed this route today. The waterfall was amazing, no disappointment there. The stairs to get out are a bit exhausting but manageable...the problem was the fence. The owner of the property you have to cross to get to the main road is really mad, apparently several people have already taken this trail; this is absolutely understandable, I wouldn't like to have strangers walking in my property either. My recommendation is that you take the left when you see the telecommunication tower with the 'Private Property' sign; this way you can walk just next to this guy's fence without trespassing his property. It won't be as easy as the other way around but it is the right thing to do and you would avoid any confrontation with that guy
Great, thanks for the tip. Hopefully hikers will read this and pay attention to it!
Is it a left at the top of the stairs??
Muchos gracias!
BEWARE! This route doesn't exist anyone. I tried going reverse and at the problematic property now even the alternative path is closed by double barbed wire!