Roca El Yunque

 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 lead you to the trailhead. Find a place to park on the road.

General Info: The trail to get there is initially the same that leads you to Britton Tower, El Yunque Peak, and Los Picachos. There are multiple signs that will show you which path to take. To get to the Roca, you walk the Britton Tower trail until you get to the service road, then you follow the service road nearly all the way to the end. The El Yunque Peak and Roca El Yunque are close to one another – basically the same hike although many skip the Roca. You’ll see a sign for it next to a two-story building on your left. Round a chain link fence on the left side of the building and follow the small trail. The trail ends at a rock face about ten feet tall. You’ll need to find a way to scramble up. If you can do it, you’ll be on top of the rock and have an amazing view. The hike will take you about two to three hours to go up, spend some time on the rock, and hike down. You’ll likely want to combine this hike with the El Yunque Peak. The last time I visited, I timed myself at two hours to get to the peak after stopping at Roca El Yunque for around 45 minutes. So, the time you spend on this hike can vary greatly depending on how often you stop, for how long, and your pace. The hike is paved the whole way besides the short trail that leads to the rock, so you can do this hike even in pouring rain. The view from the top is possibly the best in El Yunque and gives you sweeping views of the surrounding forest and coastline.

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. I would skip this hike in bad weather because of the danger of falling off the sheer rock face. The first 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 walk 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 one of the best viewpoints in Puerto Rico.
The hike is paved most of the way there, so mud is not an issue.

Cons

The first part of 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.
Much of the trail is a service road which is slightly less outdoorsy-feeling than a path.