Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sider also adding a fourth day to do the side trip to the
Valle del Tétero
, a beautiful valley at
the base of the mountain.
The second most popular route is from
Mata Grande
. It's 45km to the summit and in-
volves approximately 3800m of vertical ascent, including going over La Pelona, a peak
only slightly lower than Pico Duarte itself. You'll spend the first night at the Río La Guá-
cara campground and the second at the Valle de Bao campground. You can walk this route
in five days (return), but it's far more interesting to walk out via the Valle del Tétero and
La Ciénega (also five days). Camping Tours offers the hike from Mata Grande, which
tends to begin from the town of San José de las Matas.
It is also possible to reach the peak from
Sabaneta
(via San Juan de la Maguana),
Las La-
gunas
(via Padre las Casas) and Constanza. These routes are little traveled, significantly
more difficult, and not offered by any tour companies - you'll need to organize a guide
and mules yourself.
Sleeping
There are approximately 14 campgrounds in the parks, each with a first-come-first-served
cabin that hikers can use free of charge. Each cabin can hold 20 or more people and con-
sists of wooden floors, walls and ceiling, but no beds, cots, mats or lockers of any kind
and latrines are outside. If you have a tent, consider bringing it along.
Most of the cabins also have a stand-alone 'kitchen': an open-sided structure with two
or three concrete wood-burning stoves. Fallen dead wood is usually abundant near the
campgrounds - be sure you or your guide bring matches and some paper to get the fire
started.
