Las Pardas MTB Trail

GENERAL INFORMATION		SPECIFIC INFORMATION - MTB / ATB
ENTRANCE FEE	FREE	TYPE	F I RE R O A D	Part is used in the Survivor
PARKING	PLAYA SANTA (FREE)	NAME	L A S P A R D A S #1 (They are more routes!)	NOT MARKED
BUSINESS HOURS	N / A (EARLY AM)	DISTANCE	MEDIUM-LONG.	8.38 miles / Aerial photo
CITY	GUÁNICA	TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED	LOW	EASY - MORE DIFICULT 4 / 10
ADDRESS	MONTE LAS PARDAS between Waipao & Playa Santa	AEROBIC LEVEL	GOOD	6 / 10
PHONE #	N / A	HEIGHT GAIN	From 0 m	to 55 meters
SIZE	1250 ACRES (Aprox.)	WATER NEEDS	VERY DRY FOREST
TEMPERATURES	N / A (HIGH)	THORNS?	THORNS, A POSIBILITY
FOREST TYPE	DRY FOREST	RISKS	DEHYDRATION
WHAT TO SEE?	BEACH, GUANICA FOREST, BAY!	COURSE SPEED	FAST
WEB SITE	N / A	EXTRA FEATURES!	SSEVERAL VIEWS TO THE BEACH, AND GUÁNICA BAY	MORE SINGLETRACKS
FAMILY FUN	NOT RECOMENDED	SATELITE PHOTO	WEATHER

SPEED INDEX: (Sluggish ) ( in Between ) (Slow ) ( Parts Slow, Parts Fast ) (Fast )(Veeerry Fast )

WATER INDEX:

CAMEL = 1 BOTTLE 20 onz (If you are one of the ones that use lots of water, please adjust the amount acordingly)

THORN INDEX:

0 THORNS = LOW PROBABILITY: You get a flat by an act of God, or by using tubes fully covered by old patches!
5 THORNS = HIGH PROBABILITY: You better take patches, extra tubes, slime or liner like Mr Tuffy!

HOW TO GET TO ... PLAYA SANTA?
The easiest way: Go to the town of Guánica from Mayagüez or Ponce by road #2. Take Exit 194, it will take you to road 116. After 2 traffic lights, you should be looking for Playa Santa's exit, which should be at your right (just before a hill) (Road 1116 R). This road fuses with Calle Principal, and probably would be a miracle if this road has a road sing. Turn left to enter road 355. This road is a little longer than two miles and it will en in a "T". Here turn left. At your right you will find a couple of big buildings. At the farthest end of this building complex you will find several parking spaces (too few for any beach). They are located at the first road to your right. Please park correctly, because this site is frequented by Blue Ticket Beach Predators ("Police").
If you want to have a good time arrive very early because there is no much parking spaces. Also yuo might whant to avoid the high temperatures of the zone. You should be fit and well prepared for this route!!!! Or you will pay the consequences! I meant water, insect repellent, sun tan lotion, tubes ...

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
This route is very easy to learn. The only draw back is to find the trails entrances, which are not marked. But they are not so hard to find anyway. This route is not too technical, and is very easy going except for the east part of Monte las Pardas. The relatively long distance and the morning high temperatures (summer) are the main source for problems. The view from Playa las Pardas and Guánica Bay are neat. This route is approximately 10% single track, 45% gravel road and 45% Paved road.

SINGLETRACK:
The trail starts in Playa Santa parking site (is not a lot) (*). Exit Playa Santa by the same road that you came in (355) towards Manglillo road entrance (# 1 in the map). This road is to your right, its made of gravel and is about 0.78 miles from the parking site. The single track (2) is a small trail (left), 0.17 miles from the gravel road entrance. This trail is 0.69 miles long (3 feet wide) and descends gently towards the beach. You will find a sandy road at your left (3), {you can continue straight also. When this road end, turn left to a road that is not marked in the map (its there!).} This road (3, 4, 5) borders Las Pardas beach. From this point (5), the substrate will change from dirt to lime stone. As you can notice this fire road will border Monte las Pardas (Las Pardas Mount). Height gain to point (6) will be of 55 meters or ±182 feet. Several meters after point (6) you will find a very step hill that will take you to sea level. The paved road will start at point (7), in number (8) you will find road 355. You can return back to Playa Santa using this road, or you can reenter the route in point (1) or you can simply turn back and use your tire trails as a guide!

NOTE 1:
   They are also some very technical trails in Las Pardas, but I haven't ridden them (...yet). These are in my To Do List (Wish List). As soon as I have chance to enjoy them I will publish photos and the details. I have friends who had ridden this route and said that the terrain is very hard (gooooood!). For those of you adventurous enough, they are marked in point (6) in the map, is the dark green trail. Height gain is 115 meters. If you go... let me know how it went!

NOTE 2:
   There is also a single tracks (Fire Roads?) in the Jungle Beach, but I haven’t been there either!

FAMILY:
      Even though this version of this route is simpler, people will suffer from high temperature and physical demand. For these reasons I would not recommend this route for family recreation. But family members can enjoy Playa Santa, while they wait for you. Also they could visit La Jungla beach, which is very good and is only 5 minutes from there.