Guánica Forest MTB Trails

GENERAL INFORMATION		SPECIFIC INFORMATION - MTB / ATB
ENTRANCE FEE	FREE	TYPE	F O R E S T R O A D S	NOT COMPETITION
PARKING FEE	FREE	NAME	(LOTS OF TRAILS)	MARKED
BUSINESS HOURS	N / A	DISTANCE	LONG
CITY	GUÁNICA	TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED	GOOD FOR TRAINING	EASY 3 / 10
ADDRESS	Road. #2 Exit 116 (GUÁNICA ), Take Road 334 (BO. LA LUNA)	AEROBIC LEVEL	MAX	9 / 10
PHONE #	N / A	HEIGHT GAIN	FROM 5 METERS	TO 205 M
SIZE	3,951 ha (9,878 Cuerdas)	WATER NEEDS	DRY FOREST
TEMPERATURE	80 ° F AT SHADOW 100 ° F AT SUN	THORNS?	¡THORN COUNTRY!
FOREST TYPE	DRY, COASTAL	RISKS	DEHYDRATION	HIKERS
WHAT TO SEE?	FOREST, BIRDS, VEWS, BEACH	COURSE SPEED	NORMAL TO FAST
WEB SITE	N / A	EXTRA FEATURES	LOTS OF TRAILS, LONG HILLS	CLOSE TO LAS PARDAS
FAMILY FUN	YES!	SATELITE PHOTO	WEATHER

HOW TO GET THERE!

   How to Get There Maps (Google Maps)   * * * NEW * * *      Guánica

     Get close to the town of Yauco. If you are traveling from Ponce, the exit is after Yauco. Take Exit 194 towards Guánica (Road. 166) (Mapquest Map.). Then take road 334, it's the one that goes to La Luna (The Moon, the sector!). This road will take you to the visitor center parking lot (Marked in the map by *). In the small "caseta" (hut) where they take your info, they offer you a (free) map of the forest with all the trails marked.

HOW TO REACH BALLENAS?
     Follow the instructions form the previous part and take road 116 but DO NOT enter La Luna. Continue in this road until you find road 333 (at your left). This will take you to the coastal part of the forest.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
Here I will only present in detail only one of the many routes available, mainly because I want to keep some energy for the other trails in other parts of the Island. This forest is very important ecologically an also very different from most, and beautiful also. The map at the top has two red asterisks. The one at the top marks the visitor center, the offices & the Parking lot. The one at the lower right marks a small promontory that can also be used to park. This lot is less than a kilometer away from Ballena beach. This road (333) will end at a sandy parking lot, Tamarindo beach.

This map only shows some of the trails in the forest. Sorry, you will not find any single track here, even though there is a trail that possibly resembles one. This one is at the end of Fuerte trail (V. Fuerte). These trails are fire roads and the substrate is composed of limestone, but some sections are made from dirt.

The term THORN COUNTRY is inspired from this forest. After a good day I found five small thorns in the front tire and two in the rear, one of these one and a halve inches of length (I throw my self to the ground and say ... long live the "SLIME").

CAUTION:
1. This is a xerophytic forest (extremely hot and dry), even though some trails have tall trees and shadow, you should use solar protection, have enough water and watch for the first sings of dehydration.

2. You should have caution because this forest is frequented by hikers. This is one of the more visited and hiked forests in Puerto Rico. Usually the hikers stay close to the visitor center. But you can easily find elderly people and couples with little kids hiking around. Most of the visitors don’t venture more than a couple of miles. The most used areas are the loop made by the trails close to the visitor center and Granados. This zone is fast (for bicycles). We should be extra careful with the hikers, this forest is not used much by cyclist, so for now there are not problems at all. But judging for the encounters I have had, even though I reduced my speed and was very polite, I noted that hikers doesn't like cyclists in their forest. I am afraid that a couple of complaints will be enough to close the forest for us!

FAMILY:
    One great route for the family is the Meseta trail. This trail follows the coastline and is very scenic. This trail is not clearly marked in this map. But is very easy to find. You have to follow the Ballenas Road (333) to the end. The pavement ends in the Tamarindo beach parking lot. This is also the site you could find to the entrance of Cueva Trail. This trail is closed to motor traffic, is almost completely flat, and aerobically is not hard for beginners and little kids. But be warned that there are no shadows in the area, every body should use solar protection and be alert for signs of dehydration. ¡Ahhhh... Caution Thorn Country!

   In the visitor center and the Main Trail (vereda principal) are several picnic tables.

   In this zone you could find several beaches including Balneario de Caña Gorda, Guilligan Island, Ballenas and Tamarindo. Ballenas is one of the best of the area!

THE TRAILS:
   Here I will describe some of the trails illustrated in the previous figure, so you can plan your routes. The numbers in black marks the altitude in meters, the trails are in red and black marks the paved road.

   The rightmost trail is Ballenas, as in Cueva-Lluberas (see first map) they descend to the beach. Ballenas trail is shorter but stepper. I had walked the trail and is very good to walk it downhill, even though is should be better to climb it (sorry XC masochist). I had climbed (almost all) Cueva-Lluberas, this is less steep, but is a lot longer than Ballenas, it almost double the distance.
   You can see that the Fuerte Trail is a lot longer than the others. From the visitor center (*) toward the east; the first mile is descending, after that you will go up and down on several hills. From there you will find in the map a circle close to the mark of 125'. Here is Fuerte Caprón, a Spanish observing post (see photo at top). To reach the fort you have to take the trail at your left. You can rest here and admire the view of Guánica Bay. Once you leave the fort, the trail becomes very narrow and steeper, and turns in a short single track. There is a section that most of the mortals (like us) go on foot. This section is close to road 333. Once in this road the route is very scenic, long and relatively flat.

If instead you climb this trail (Vereda Fuerte), you will spend all your energy (assuming you are a normal XC rider). I will recommend descending from Fuerte Trail, taking road 333 and as the main course climb to the visitor centering by Ballenas. Other option will be Park in the Tamarindo beach area, or the Promontory, which is close to the Ballenas trail entrance (1 mile, and 0.8 miles respectively).

If this route is small for you can Park in Tamarindo, take the Meseta trail, return by it, climb Cueva-Luberas, take Granados trail, descend by Fuerte and return by 333 to Tamarindo.

If this route is still too short for you, Las Pardas is near by, check the page in this web dedicated to this trail.

¡Que disfruten! I mean… Enjoy!!!!

att. JGRR