San Gerardo de Dota, nine kilometers west and sharply downhill from the Pan-American Highway at Kilometer 80, is an exquisite hamlet tucked at the base of a narrow wooded valley at 1,900 meters—a true Shangri-la cut off from the rest of the world. It’s a magnificent setting. The road is snaking, steep, and breathtakingly beautiful.

The Río Savegre valley is a center for apples and peaches; it also attracts resplendent quetzals, especially during the April and May nesting season. The Savegre Mountain Hotel hosts the Quetzal Education Research Complex, a Creationist entity operated in association with the Southern Nazarene University of Oklahoma.

Also here is the Savegre Biological Reserve (www.savegre.co.cr), at Savegre Mountain Hotel; there are trails.

The Trogon Lodge Canopy Tour offers a zipline ride between five treetop platforms ($35), plus a waterfall hike and horseback ride ($35). After hiking, you can relax with a massage at Las Cumbres de Altamira (tel. 506/2740-1042), at the top of the mountainside.

Los Quetzales National Park

San Gerardo is a gateway to the Parque Nacional Los Quetzales (tel. 506/2200-5354, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. daily, $10), created in 2005 and covering 5,000 hectares of cloud forest on the upper reaches of the Río Savegre. The park borders the Pan-American Highway between Kilometer 70 and Kilometer 80; the main entrance is opposite Restaurante Los Chesperitos, at Kilometer 76.5. It currently has three trails.

The park opens for bird-watchers at 6 a.m. by appointment; guides can be hired with 24 hours’ notice ($10 pp). The San José–San Isidro bus (hourly from Calle Central, Avenida 22, tel. 506/2222-2422) will drop you at the entrance.

Hotels

Rodolfo Chacón and his wife, Maribel, have four cabinas—Cabinas El Quetzal (tel./fax 506/2740-1036, www.cabinaselquetzal.com, $45 pp including meals), on the banks of the river. All have hot water, and there’s a children’s playground. “We slept so well there with the woodstove going,” reports one reader.

Trogon Lodge (tel. 506/2293-8181, www.grupomawamba.com, $59 s or $79 d standard, $110 s or $130 d junior suite) enjoys a beautiful and secluded setting at the head of the San Gerardo Valley, beside the burbling river tumbling through exquisitely landscaped grounds. There are 10 simply appointed two-bedroom hardwood cabins with tasteful fabrics, heater, private bathroom with hot water, and veranda. Meals are served in a rustic lodge overlooking a trout pond. Fishing is available. Trails lead to waterfalls. Guided horseback rides, quetzal tours, a canopy tour, and mountain bike rentals are offered.

Set amid beautifully landscaped grounds, Savegre Hotel Natural Reserve & Spa (tel. 506/2740-1028, www.savegre.co.cr, $114 s, $165 d standard, $172 s, $230 d junior suite low season; $125 s, $178 d standard, $182 s, $252 d junior suite high season), in the midst of the tiny little community, has 20 handsome all-wood cabins with heaters. There are also 20 newer, more spacious, wood-paneled junior suites. It has trails, plus bird-watching trips, cloud-forest hiking, guided horseback riding, and trout fishing. A deluxe spa opened in 2010 with two huge whirlpool tubs and three treatment rooms. At last visit, quetzals flew back and forth below the restaurant veranda—however, it’s rather pricey for what you get.

Suria Lodge (tel. 506/2740-1004, www.suria-lodge.com, $60 pp including all meals), at the end of the road, also offers lovely Colorado-style cabins. Alejandro Dada at El Manantial Mountain Lodge (tel. 506/2740-1045, www.elmanantiallodge.com, $59 s, $79 d) has cozy accommodations in a simple wooden lodge with rough-hewn floors, and an open-air restaurant with a cast-iron stove overlooking an apple orchard. You can “pick your own dinner” from the organic garden. There’s even a simple steam room with a slate seat.

One of my favorite hotels in Costa Rica, Dantica Cloud Forest Lodge & Gallery (tel. 506/2740-1067, www.dantica.com, from $126 s/d low season, from $152 high season), midway between the highway and valley bottom, is a dramatic modernist creation with walls of glass throughout. Run by a Danish-Colombian couple, it has seven one- and two-bedroom villas plus a suite (with its own private garden) tastefully furnished Ikea-style, with cozy down duvets and thermal blankets.

Lovely details include teak and gray stone floors, space heaters, halogen ceiling lights, tasteful art pieces; plus genuine antique doors, window rails, and even roof tiles imported from Colombia. There are lots of thoughtful extras, such as flashlights, ponchos, and walking sticks in every room. These details, and hip contemporary bathrooms with whirlpool tubs, gracefully combine old and new into a delightful aesthetic.

The two-bedroom villas have fully equipped kitchens. Some rooms are a hilly 200-meter hike from reception. A highlight is the exhibition of ethnic art, and a gift store sells quality indigenous pieces. Massages are offered, and seven kilometers of trails lead through a private 20-hectare forest adjoining Parque Nacional Los Quetzales.

Restaurants

All the lodges serve food, including Dantica Cloud Forest Lodge (7 a.m.–9 p.m. daily, $2–18), with its glass walls and cozy cast-iron stove. Look for such breakfast treats as European-style pancakes, and a bagel with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and pepper. Lunch could include steak sandwiches with onions, mushrooms, and paprika. I enjoyed a gourmet dinner of grilled zucchini with tomato pomodori sauce ($4.50), a fillet of trout with fresh herbs ($9.50), and a hot banana with ice cream and chocolate sauce ($5).

San Gerardo de Dota has two outstanding stand-alone restaurants. A 400-meter uphill hike from Dantica brings you to Comida Típica Miriam (tel. 560/2740-1049, 6 a.m.–8 p.m. daily, $5–10), a local farmstead and soda where the charming Serrano family serves delicious, filling meals in a simple room heated by an old cast-iron stove. Miriam also rents out basic cabins with heaters ($35) and has trails good for spotting quetzals.

Restaurant Los Lagos (tel. 506/2740-1009, loslagoslodge [at] costarrricense [dot] cr, 6 a.m.–7 p.m. Mon.–Thurs., until 9 p.m. Fri.–Sun., $5–12), in the valley bottom opposite Cabinas El Quetzal, specializes in trout dishes. It also has lodging.

Getting to San Gerardo de Dota

A minibus (tel. 506/8367-8141, $15) connects the Pan-American Highway with San Gerardo and meets the San José–San Isidro bus at Kilometer 80 at 7:40 a.m. daily, and departs San Gerardo for the highway at 6:50 a.m. daily.