Britton Tower

 5/5

Getting there: Drive a little under an hour from San Juan to get to the entrance of El Yunque National Forest. Having your own car is ideal, but you can also book a tour. Reservations used to be required to enter this area of the forest, but that is no longer the case. They only let in 200 cars at a time, so getting there early is a good idea. You’ll drive all the way to the end of the recreation corridor, taking a one-way road that will take you to the trailhead. Find a place to park on the road.

General Info: The Torre Britton Hike will take you about an hour to go up, spend some time in the tower, and hike down at a leisurely pace. The last time I visited, I timed myself at 30 minutes to get to the tower having stopped briefly a few times. The hike is paved, so you can do this hike even it is pouring rain. The view from the top is incredible, I never get tired of it. There are better views in El Yunque, but this one is easy to reach compared to the other spots – I think you get the best bang for your buck here.

Heads up: Be careful when walking, the path can get slippery when wet. If it is raining, enjoy the journey because there won’t be much of a view at the top. The path is so narrow that only one person can pass at a time, which means that you’ll be stepping off the trail to let other people pass or be walking quickly by people who step off the trail to let you pass. It would have been nice if they had made the paved path slightly bigger.

Pros

The rainforest is beautiful and the most scenic place to hike on the island.
There’s a chance of seeing endemic birds.
This is the “best value” hike on the island. It is not as difficult as others and affords a great view.

Cons

The trail is usually busy and also narrow, so expect a lot of stop-and-go traffic.
Getting caught in the rain here is common.