San Ramón, about 12 kilometers due west of Naranjo and one kilometer north of Highway 1, is an agricultural and university town known for its Saturday feria del agricultor (farmers market). The impressive church on the main square is built of steel manufactured by the Krups armament factory in Germany and has a beautiful colonial tile floor and stained-glass windows.

The San Ramón Museum (tel. 506/437-9851, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon.–Fri., free) on the north side of the plaza, focuses on local history and has a motley collection; it features a re-created turn-of-the-20th- century campesino home.

One block east, the José Figueres Ferrer Historic Museum and Cultural Center (tel. 506/447-2178, www.centrojosefigueres.org, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. Mon.–Sat.; by donation) has an exposition on the life of Figueres and the 1948 civil war.

San Ramón is a gateway to the northern lowlands via a mountain road that crests the cordillera, then begins a long sinuous descent to La Tigra.

Nectandra Cloud Forest Garden (tel./fax 506/445-4642, www.nectandra.org, 7 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues.–Sun., $50 entrance including guided tour and lecture), at Kilometer 15, north of San Ramón, is a botanical garden surrounded by 104 hectares of forest reserve where quetzals can be seen while hiking miles of trails.

About 18 kilometers north of San Ramón, a dirt road leads west to the 7,800-hectare Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve, created in 1993 to protect watershed forest on the Atlantic slope of the Cordillera de Tilarán. It’s administered by the University of Costa Rica. It has trails, plus cabins available by reservation (tel. 506/437-9904, cordinv [at] ns [dot] so [dot] ucr [dot] ac [dot] cr).

About 32 kilometers north of San Ramón is the San Lorenzo Canopy Tour, with two options. The first features 13 platforms, eight cables, and two hanging bridges spanning two guided trails; or you can take the “Adventure Cable Tour” by zipline using six cables (the longest is 850 meters) in which you gain a speed of 80 kilometers per hour! The latter has two parallel cables, so you can race your best friend. Each costs $35 for 90 minutes, or $55 for both. There’s also a “canyoning” option involving a waterfall rappel ($50).

Getting There

Buses depart San José every 30 minutes from Calle 16, Avenidas 10/12, 5:50 a.m.–10 p.m. daily. Taxis operate from the main plaza, or call Taxis San Ramón (tel. 506/445-5966 or 506/445-5110).