Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
bedding. Make your reservations 15 days in advance with the DRNA in San Juan. You can
make an open reservation, which allows flexibility with dates. Camping is not permitted in
Guilarte.
Maricao
POP 6200
With a population of fewer than 7000 citizens, Maricao is the smallest municipality on the
main island of Puerto Rico, and a gem of a mountain retreat near the western end of the
Ruta Panorámica. This is a town of little commerce, with rushing streams, gorges, bridges,
terraced houses, switchback roads, and weather so cool and damp that some houses have
stone fireplaces to take the nip out of the air. Outside the town there is beautiful mountain
terrain and the largest state forest in Puerto Rico, the Bosque Estatal de Maricao.
With its peaks, dark forests and fog, Maricao is just the kind of place in which legends
take root. Admirers of Maricao claim that it was the strong coffee grown here that woke up
the devil on the island. Another story claims that 2000 Taíno survived here into the 19th
century, centuries after the last native Puerto Ricans were thought to have disappeared.
Stopping here for a day or two is probably as close as a traveler can come to experiencing
the charms of the legendary
jíbaro'
s existence. Maricao hosts a popular coffee-harvest
festival in mid-February, with crafts and traditional coffee-making demonstrations.
Sights & Activities
Bosque Estatal de Maricao
FOREST
This forest of more than 10,000 acres lies along the Ruta Panorámica south of Maricao,
and the drive is spectacular, with sharp curves snaking over ridges as the mountainsides fall
away into steep valleys. Along the drive, there are pull-offs at trailheads leading into the
woods or down steep inclines.
Curiously, few of the trails are maintained or mapped and guides are difficult to come
by. If you are coming here to hike, bring a topo map from a supplier in the US, or order one
from the USGS.
While the landscape is categorized as high-mountain rainforest, scientists note that the
845 species of plant are less 'exuberant' than tropical rainforests such as El Yunque. Birds
are the most studied fauna, with 44 identified species. Tanagers, cuckoos and warblers are
some of the remarkable types spotted in the forest.
