We went to Hacienda la Central, at the foot of the Turrialba Volcano, the most mystical and the best in the country. We all know that this volcano has tormented us with ash on more than one occasion but it was the time that they go to meet him and have an epic ride.

How to get there? From San José take the highway towards Cartago and Irazú Volcano. Take the exit towards Pacayas and continue until La Pastora. When you reach the Torre Alba soda, turn left and go up without stopping until you reach Hacienda La Central.

Waze: https://waze.com/ul/hd1u2vsfkz

Distance: 5km Total Difficulty: Easy Accessibility: Accessible with help

What to bring? Comfortable clothes for walking, trail tennis or hiking boots, waterproof jacket or windbreaker, sweater, sunscreen, camera, food to share.

Vehicle: High-speed car or truck Parking:Yes Pets: Yes Camping: Yes

Contact: 8414-4682 or [email protected]

Cost: Walk around $ 5000 per person (groups over 5 people). Camping ¢ 3000 per night per person

We lasted just over an hour arriving at the Turrialba Volcano from San José because it was fair and necessary to stop and take pictures with those landscapes in between. When we bumped into a little restaurant/grocery store at the foot of the volcano realized that we had arrived at Hacienda La Central. So we parked in front of a camping area overlooking the volcano.

We got out of the car and went to the grocery store to run into Hugo who was our contact with the farm, then we went to the bathroom to change, they gave us some cheese burritos to take out and we finished preparing the stuff to go for a walk.

We started the walk 200 meters to the intersection that leads to the volcano (which can not be accessed by the ash that sometimes falls) and we were talking to the ranger who explained a bit of the National Park and its history. Then we continued walking along the same road until we reached an IN-CRE-DI-BLE paddock called Pigres.

I think that from that moment we got into Pigres the best part of the trip really started because the green color of the grass made an impressive contrast with the burned trees from ancient eruptions and with the volcano in the background, an incredible landscape. For the paddock, we walked about 20 minutes passing through the old dairy farm until we reached the canyon of a super deep river ... (the river is not big, but the ditch that it made is) This spot is called "El Hoyo" and was Here, we made a mandatory stop to take pictures and turn on the drone until a drizzle fell that made ruined our drone fest. We continued our walk between paddocks and farms all beautiful until you get to a mini-lake that is formed with the rains, we took our sandwiches here and cheese snacks to do a picnic in the skirts of the volcano.

After eating we continued our way through more paddocks until we reached the soda / pulpería de la Hacienda. From this place the Volcano looks amazing and is perfect for taking photos and doing camping, on this trip, we had no luck and the gray cloud never cleared up but this only means we have a reason to return.

**** Eat something at the Hacienda La Central restaurant; it is incredibly yummy, we asked for chorizo appetizers which were awesome...