Río Chirripó Valley, Costa Rica

The Valle del Río Chirripó cuts deeply into the Talamancas northeast of San Isidro, fed by waters cascading down from Cerro Chirripó (3,819 meters), Costa Rica’s highest mountain. The river is favored for trout fishing, while the warm valley microclimate is kind to fruit trees: orchards of peaches and apples cover the lower slopes. The drive offers spectacular scenery.

Rivas, a little village six km east of San Isidro, is famous for the “Rock of the Indian,” a giant rock carved with pre-Columbian Indian motifs, enclosed by a wire fence (but nonetheless defaced by vandals’ graffiti) at the base of a tree 100 meters north of Rancho La Botija (tel./fax 506/770-2146, labotija@racsa.co.cr, www.ecotourism.co.cr/docs/labotija, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues.–Sun., $5 admission adults, $1.50 children). This coffee and fruit finca has a 150-year-old trapiche, or sugar mill, trails, a lake with tilapia, an atmospheric café, a swimming pool with changing rooms and security boxes, plus horse rentals ($4 per hour), and children’s playground amid lawns.

Passing through the hamlet of Canáan, 18 km northeast of San Isidro, you arrive at San Gerardo de Rivas, where the Río Blanco flows into the Río Chirripó. This quaint village, on the southwest flank of Chirripó at 1,300 meters, is the gateway to Chirripó National Park. The setting is temptingly alpine, the air crisp. The scent of pines and the burbling of rushing streams fill the air. Mountain flanks rise sheer from the valleys. And the locale is perfect for hiking and bird-watching.

The ranger station for Chirripó National Park is on the south side of the Río Blanco, as you enter San Gerardo, which straggles uphill for about one km and is centered on a soccer field. About 800 km above the soccer field, the dirt road divides: that to the right clambers steeply for about one km to the trailhead to Chirripó National Park. It continues in deteriorating condition 1.5 km to Chirripó Cloudbridge Reserve (www.cloudbridge.org), a private reserve and reforestation project with trails.

A dirt road to the left at a Y-fork follows the Río Blanco upstream three km to the hamlet of Herradura and thence, growing steeper and more tenuous, to the tinier hamlet of Río Blanco, where you can hike to Cerro Chirripó and Cerro Urán.

Museo el Pelicano
This small “museum” on a coffee finca between Canáan and San Gerardo displays the eclectic and unique works of local artist Rafael Elizondo Basulta. Crafted from stones and natural timbers, the exhibits include a five-meter snake hewn from a branch. My favorite is a half-scale motorbike made from 1,000 twigs and other pieces of wood. Many of Rafael’s stone sculptures are displayed in the beautifully landscaped garden. With luck you may be invited into his charming house to see the tree trunks hewn magically into a storage cupboard and even a wooden fridge. Entrance is free.

Sports and Recreation
The Río Chirripó and the larger Río General, which it feeds, are popular for kayaking and rafting, with enormous volumes of water creating Class III and IV rapids with gigantic waves. See Recreation and Tours section, in the Know Costa Rica section, for rafting companies.

Chirripó Horse Tours (www.cloudbridge.org), at Cabinas El Descanso, offers horseback rides.

Services
It’s worth noting that Pulpería La Nubes (tel. 506/771-1866) has the only public phone in San Gerardo de Rivas.

Getting There
Buses depart San Isidro for San Gerardo de Rivas at 5:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., returning at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. A 10:30 a.m. bus from San José (Calle 16, Avenidas 1/3; $1 each way) to San Isidro will get you there in time for the 2 p.m. bus. There’s another San Gerardo nearby, so be sure to specify San Gerardo de Rivas.

If driving, the turnoff for Rivas and San Gerardo is opposite Pollo Brasilita, one km south of San Isidro. A 4WD taxi from San Isidro will cost about $8.