Pico Blanco All Sport climbing 5 routes in crag

By Car

Approximate time: 20 minutes

Take highway 27 from the South Sabana west out of San José. You will go under a bridge with a green mural of a butterfly, frog, and train painted on it and then over a large ravine. Take the first exit off the highway after the ravine. There is an EPAon the right and this road will take you down and around to the left under the highway heading southbound. Directly after going under the highway, there will be a Walmart on the right hand side and then a set of lights.

Continue straight through the set of lights past a T.G.I.F. restaurant. Maintain on this road, keeping to the left at the gas station. This will take you into central Escazu. You will be forced to take a right (due to the one way streets) and then at Calle 1 make a left. Go south on Calle 1 for approximately 1km, then make a left onto Avenida 8 (this is directly after the Colegio Nuestra Senora del Pillar). Go to the end of the street and make a right onto Calle 5. Take Calle 5 south for about 1.5km into the town of San Antonio de Escazu. Immediately after the large yellow church with red trim in the center of San Antonio de Escazu, make a right, pass the side of the church, the soccer field, cross a small bridge, and then keep to the left at the merging streets. Follow this road south past the Cementerio San Antonio.

At anytime if you are lost or unsure of your bearings, ask for directions to Cementerio San Antonio. Continue south, passing The White House hotel and casino on the left and keeping to the right at Parliament Hill. Another 750m after Parliament Hill the paved road will end. If you think your vehicle can handle light off-roading, continue to the top of the hill, and make a right in the opposite direction of the house with the high cement wall. Follow the dirt road, which will return to being paved for a short hill. At the top of the hill make a right and park along the trailhead, continuing the remainder of the approach on foot.

By Bus

Approximate time: 30 minutes

From San José take the blue San Antonio de Escazu bus from the Coca Cola area. The bus picks up from multiple stops around the Coca Cola, so the best thing to do is to ask where the closest stop is relative to your current location. Get off the bus in San Antonio de Escazu. There is a yellow church with red trim that has a bleak looking rose garden and twin clock towers. There is also a soccer pitch directly in front of the main entrance of the church. After dismounting from the bus it is ‘choose your own adventure’ time. You can: (A) take a 1.5 hour hike up the streets of Escazu until you reach the trailhead, and then hike another 1.5 hours to the rock face. Alternatively, (B) you can take a taxi as far as it will take you and then hike the rest. How far the taxi can take you will depend on if your taxi is four-wheel drive, or if your driver thinks his compact can handle the rough roads. Either way, ask your driver to take you to the White House (La Casa Blanca) Hotel/Casino/Restaurant. From this easily identifiable landmark (via taxi or heel-toe express) continue up the hill, choosing either the right or left of the building marked “Parliament Hill.” If you stay to the right (the shorter route), the paved road will end with a heavily fortified (a retaining wall, electric fence and security cameras) house on the left. Make your way to the top of the fortified house’s property where the road splits to the left and to the right. Make a right turn and continue on the unpaved road for approximately 500 meters until the road becomes paved again and bends up a hill to the left.

If you stay to the left of “Parliament Hill” the road remains paved until you hit the dirt raod at the top of the hill next to the heavily fortified house. If your vehicle is not ‘hearty’ I would recommend the longer but paved left route. Continue on the unpaved road.

Along the way you will be able to see rock formations above you on the mountain, but this is not where you will be climbing – although future development may open up this side of the mountain to climbing as well. The rock you are going to faces the opposite way, overlooking San José.

After approximately 200 meters the paved hill will summit with a slight turn to the right. At the top of the hill the road will continue to the left, and there on your right will be the main trailhead (which is actually a dirt road for the first 150 meters, but thereafter thins out into a rocky trail only accessible by ATV, horse, dirtbike, mountain bike and foot). Begin the approach on foot or ATV, dirtbike, mountain bike, horse, if available.

Approach

Approximate time: 1.5 hours

From the trailhead, walk away from the paved road passing the ‘container’ house on the left, followed by a chain-linked fence that is blocking a driveway leading down to a property. The trail will continue for approximately 10 minutes, until you begin walking parallel to a river. At one point the trail will move closer to the river so that there is direct access to the river. Just after this you will see a potrero on the right hand side. Apotrero is a Spanish word that means an area of land that has been cleared for cattle grazing. In this case, this potrero is on the side of Pico Blanco and is surrounded by a barbed wire fence. You will notice many large boulders and trees across the uphill potrero, however for the most part, the land is clear and there is grass. Climb over the fence and enter the portero, being mindful of snakes when crossing the land. As you hike the hill you will be able to see El Torre directly in front of you. Work your way up and to the left, until you reach a pine forest, which is bordered by another barbed wire fence indicating the end of the potrero land. Climb over this fence and continue up the center of the pine forest for approximately 10 minutes. Where the pine forest ends and the tropical forest begins, slightly to the right, there is a small, easy to miss trail that goes up between two partially ground embedded boulders. If you have a machete and have not been using it, now would be a good time to dawn this tool. Follow the thin trail through athe tropical forest for about 7 minutes until you reach the wall. Be careful for loose soil as the hiking is steep at some places. Use the surrounding trees to stabilize yourself being mindful of loose or uprooted vegetation that will not hold your bodyweight should you slip. For this part of the trek, bring a walking stick to help ground yourself. The first climbs are directly to the left as you reach the wall.