Costa Rica’s Best Kept Secret
How an illegal hike in Costa Rica lead us to one of the country’s best kept secrets.
Quebrada Gata Falls and Barosso Falls.
I wouldn’t consider myself an adrenaline junkie, but I do live for adventure. So when my girlfriend left me in charge of planning a hike during our trip to Costa Rica, that’s exactly what I went looking for.
I hate tourist trap locations; especially when it comes to hiking. I would much rather find a smaller, less known location to spend my time at than stand shoulder to shoulder with other travelers. Sometimes you can’t avoid it, and sometimes a location is too amazing to pass on in which that sort of thing becomes warranted. But if there’s an option for a more unique experience or story, I’m typically all in on that option.
After spending several hours down a YouTube rabbit hole of Costa Rica travel vlogs, one finally caught my attention.
Titled: “I Went to Costa Rica's Most Beautiful Waterfall | Quebrada Gata Falls” - I recommend the watch.
It was the first I’d even seen these Falls mentioned, which to me meant it was yet to be overrun with tourism. Exactly what I was looking for.
There was just one catch.
This hike is illegal
..technically..I think?
I don’t actually know the legalities of this hike. I found mixed reviews online. But regardless, I wanted to hike it.
I needed to find a local guide, since formal tours are not permitted here. I stumbled onto this instagram page thanks to a few comments exchanged under the YouTube video highlighted above. This website is where I found additional details and was able to get in touch with Kenneth via whatsapp.
I showed Lauren the video, told her I’d found a guide, and gave her an out if she didn’t feel comfortable going on this one.
Luckily, she loves a good story as much as I do. So I reached out to Kenneth via whatsapp and our hike was booked.
Distance: 6.8 miles
Difficulty: Hard & Moderately dangerous (would not recommend for kids)
Time: ~6 hours
The Morning Of
Kenneth sent me coordinates to an unnamed road about an hour and a half outside of La Fortuna where we were staying. We were to meet him there at 7am sharp.
So we wake up that following morning:
Coordinates in hand to an unnamed road to meet a random stranger that we connected with through whatsapp. Entrusting his claim that he can guide us safely on an illegal hike to a hidden waterfall. Not sketchy at all.
We hop in the car.
An hour an a half later, at the exact coordinates we were sent. We come across a guy in hiking clothes sitting on a guardrail. Nothing but an Earthpak slung across his shoulder. That has to be our guide, Kenneth.
He climbs in the backseat of our rental car and we drive about a half mile further up the road to an electric drawgate. I hand Kenneth our cash to pay for the hike. He pockets some, makes a quick call, and hops out to meet a security guard at the gate. He hands the rest of the cash to him, and we’re through. It definitely feels illegal.
This is where the hike begins.
Hiking to the Falls:
It’s a 6.5 mile, out and back hike. Strewn with boulder scrambling, untame jungle terrain, and rushing river crossings to get to Rio Barroso. We’re told the water is Gatorade blue.
The hike starts off with about a half mile trek down a steep, windy, incline service road. We small talked with Kenneth as we listened to howler monkeys in the distance.
As we approached the bottom of the incline, a power plant appears to our left.
We scale down a rocky ledge, keeping a careful balance on grounded logs and strict feet placement to avoid a steep slip down into the river banks. “1 foot here, then here, and hand here.” Kenneth instructs. We follow suit.
A stretch of moderate trail climbing through mossy rock and untamed jungle leads us to our first river crossing. He helps Lauren across first, guiding her foot placement through thigh-high river currents. It’s becoming pretty clear that this is going to be a wet hike.
I trail behind with an irresponsible amount of drone and camera gear stuffed in a $30 Earthpak that hasn’t been water-tested.
We make some version of a snaking pattern back and forth across shallow parts of the river. Some areas calf high, some just underwaist high. Nothing too crazy yet. We come to a pretty wide river crossing.
“And now, we swim.”
We watch as our only way out of here dives head first upstream into the current. Kenneth swims across to a boulder on the other side of the river as I watch Lauren pick her jaw up off the jungle floor. Her go.
Her phone is hanging around her neck in a waterproof lanyard. She holds it in her mouth, and dives across the river following Kenneth’s path. She scrambled up on the boulder to make room for me to make it across. Time to test out this water pack.
Admittedly more concerned with the amount of money it would cost me to replace my drone and camera after all this than the rushing rapids 20 feet behind us, I dive in. The water is surprisingly refreshing.
A few more crossings, a few more boulder scrambles, and we reach a blue lagoon like section of the river where 2 waterfalls meet. The Rio Barroso.
We drop our bags and swim into the bottom of the waterfalls to take it all in.
It was unreal.
We had it all to ourselves.
We spend some time here. Swimming, taking pictures, enjoying the serenity of it all.
And of course, I had to drone it.
Available in Print Shop
Once we’re done here, we retrace our steps (and swims), to head to our next falls.
Quebrada Gata Falls
This portion of the hike involved less water crossings, and more scrambling. A lot of mud and mossy rock maneuvering.
The trails on this side were a lot more slick but we kept up with the pace set by Kenneth.
It doesn’t take us near as long to reach our next stop. Maybe 30-40 minutes.
The views at Quebrada Gata are amazing.
A convergence of three powerful waterfalls at the same point in the river. There are also some smaller streams trickling off the sides of the adjacent rock faces.
The falls are a bit shorter, but far more commanding and serene. Its very clear that the water current here is far more dangerous. We won’t be swimming here.
Kenneth explains that hiking in this area is illegal because of an active hydro-electric dam further upstream. Sudden gate openings from the dam above can flood this area of the valley very quickly. Several deaths have unfortunately been recorded here due to hikers getting caught in the flash floods. It really puts into perspective the caution and respect these areas should be approached with.
Only hike them with an experienced guide.
We took our pictures, soaked it in for a few, and it was time to head back to the car.
After a good 30 minutes of moderately strenuous hiking, we make it back to the power plant. We scramble back up the terrain we came in through took a breath of relief, as we made it out in one piece.
We were shocked to realize that we’d already done the easiest parts of the hike. We still to climb the steep incline road back to the car.
Although it was a paved road, this is quite literally the hardest part of the hike. I’m not bullshitting you, this part sucks.
It takes us a good 30 minutes before we finally reached our car with no shortage of sweat dripping off us.
We change clothes, drink plenty water, and both savor the realization that we probably just had the most adventurous day of our lives.
Kenneth hitches a ride back with us to a nearby town and takes the time to introduce us to a local coffee shop with some native desert dishes to try and we finally, say our goodbyes. He does several other guided tours in the La Fortuna area, so we’re both pretty confident we’ll cross paths with him again.
Thanks for reading!
