JULIO ENRIQUE MONAGAS NATIONAL PARK​

Location: Bayamón

Getting there: From San Juan, drive 12 minutes west to Bayamón. Just before you arrive at a women’s prison, turn left into a parking lot. There will be a security booth with a guard manning the station during business hours, usually. Sometime they charge and sometimes thy don’t, I don’t really get it. Skip the first lot and park in the second further down the road and to the right, if there is room. The trailhead starts there. 

General Info: After you start on the trail, there are many different paths you can follow. There is an observation tower that you can hike to that is sadly closed due to disrepair. But, standing at the foot of the tower is still a good view. The best climbing crag on the island is located within the park. Even if you don’t climb, I recommend checking out the “pasillo” area, near the observation tower. It’s a very cool, mini slot canyon thing. Or maybe a long, narrow cave? I’m not sure, but further in you’ll see the walls look like candle wax from the water filtering through the limestone and building up mineral deposits on the wall – it’s very cool.

Heads up: The trail is largely shaded but I find this forest to be one of the most humid to hike through.