Hiking Tour at Cerro Chato Hill
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Trip Type: Walking Tours
Duration: 6 hours
We start the hike through a very dense primary forest, all the way to the Cerro Chato Lagoon where you can take photos and discover the surroundings. Enjoy the sensation of liberty having the best views of the San Carlos Lowlands and Arenal Volcano as well.
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We start the hike through a very dense primary forest, all the way to the Cerro Chato Lagoon where you can take photos and discover the surroundings. Enjoy the sensation of liberty having the best views of the San Carlos Lowlands and Arenal Volcano as well.
Cerro Chato is the sleeping cousin of Arenal Volcano, smaller, greener and less prone to violent eruptions (the last one was 3,500 years ago); Cerro Chato offers rigorous yet rewarding hikes to the crater lake at its summit. We begin the journey transferring us from the hotels in La Fortuna area around the Arenal Volcano to get to the entrance of the trail.
There we start the hike toward the summit of Chato Hill through a very dense primary forest. When we arrived up we go visit the lagoon on the top, where you can take photos and discover the surroundings. The trail is more than a mile long and takes between three and four hours round-trip. It's steep and relatively challenging, but worth it for the incredible views of the rainforest and the lagoon.
Once at the top we continue descending, always enclosed of a very dense forest, where you could appreciate birds, plants, animals, insects and immense trees, as well enjoy the sensation of liberty having beautiful views of the San Carlos Lowlands as well as of the Arenal Volcano.
At the lagoon you will appreciate its emerald green waters and crisp, fresh air after the long vertical trek to the top. Along the way you'll hike through an ancient forest sated with sturdy tree trunks wrapped in vines and carpeted in moss. Above you, the canopy filters the light in little patches that dot the forest floor where the trail weaves up and over stairs of gnarled roots.
Keep an eye out for wildlife at Chato and the surrounding Arenal Volcano National Park: howler and spider monkeys, white-nosed coati, sloths, deer, boa constrictors, parrots, trogons, hummingbirds, motmots and toucans are all known to inhabit the park. Plant life includes ferns, heliconias, mountain guayabo, freijo, rosewood, chicle and balsa trees.
Scientists believe that Chato first erupted during the Pleistocene period 38,000 years ago. Today, the dormant volcano is camouflaged in a thick layer of secondary rainforest brimming with moss covered trees, hanging vines and bromeliads. Its two peaks, Chatito and Espina, reach more than 3,600 feet and conceal the Chato lagoon; a mammoth water-filled crater, stretching 1,640 feet in diameter.
There we start the hike toward the summit of Chato Hill through a very dense primary forest. When we arrived up we go visit the lagoon on the top, where you can take photos and discover the surroundings. The trail is more than a mile long and takes between three and four hours round-trip. It's steep and relatively challenging, but worth it for the incredible views of the rainforest and the lagoon.
Once at the top we continue descending, always enclosed of a very dense forest, where you could appreciate birds, plants, animals, insects and immense trees, as well enjoy the sensation of liberty having beautiful views of the San Carlos Lowlands as well as of the Arenal Volcano.
At the lagoon you will appreciate its emerald green waters and crisp, fresh air after the long vertical trek to the top. Along the way you'll hike through an ancient forest sated with sturdy tree trunks wrapped in vines and carpeted in moss. Above you, the canopy filters the light in little patches that dot the forest floor where the trail weaves up and over stairs of gnarled roots.
Keep an eye out for wildlife at Chato and the surrounding Arenal Volcano National Park: howler and spider monkeys, white-nosed coati, sloths, deer, boa constrictors, parrots, trogons, hummingbirds, motmots and toucans are all known to inhabit the park. Plant life includes ferns, heliconias, mountain guayabo, freijo, rosewood, chicle and balsa trees.
Scientists believe that Chato first erupted during the Pleistocene period 38,000 years ago. Today, the dormant volcano is camouflaged in a thick layer of secondary rainforest brimming with moss covered trees, hanging vines and bromeliads. Its two peaks, Chatito and Espina, reach more than 3,600 feet and conceal the Chato lagoon; a mammoth water-filled crater, stretching 1,640 feet in diameter.
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