In all my prior 'Cruiser's Running Guide' posts, I list all distances and turns to make with two-digit accuracy. I've brought a handheld GPS on every run, along with a piece of paper and a pen to take notes. I didn't do so today, so you'll enjoy a more narrative description, rather than mapquest-esque instructions.
Location: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Distance: 2700 ft vertical elevation; (2 hours up, 1.5 hours down).
Customizable?: You can take the Tram back to the bottom
Overall Score: 8/10
Hilliness: 10/10
Variety: 5/10
Scenery: 9/10
Safety: 8/10 (don't get lost)
Stray Dog Potential: 2/10 (at the bottom, but all very lazy)
Type: Intermediate mountain hike. Single track, switchbacks , some mud, and a bit of scrambling.
Time of Day: Morning
NOTES: This hike is well worth it. The mountain rises 2700 feet from the edge of the city and provides wonderful panoramic views at the top. There is a cable car ($10) that can take you to the summit where you'll also find a small café, gift shop, botanical gardens, and a Rio-esque statue of Jesus overlooking the city.
The most difficult part of the hike is finding the trailhead. We had heard it was near the base of the tram, but once we started looking, we were swarmed by locals wanting to serve as tour guides (we were quoted $25 per person for a guide to take us to the top). Feel free to take a guide if you'd like, but if you're comfortable hiking in the woods, there is no need for a guide. The trail is not marked, but once you get going, it is rather easy to follow.
Make sure you make all regular preparations when going on a hike. Bring water, good shoes, keep your wits about you, and watch the weather.
START: From Ocean World in Cofresi, take any wawa bus into Puerto Plata. You can pick them up by walking about a mile up the road and past the Lifestyle Resort onto the main highway. There'll usually be one sitting on the far side of the road and cost 25 pesos per person.
While riding in, keep an eye out on your right for the mountain and cable car. A bit after you cross a bridge over a river, there will be a wide road going up and to the right. There will be a large billboard advertising the 'Telefrico' up to the top, as well as a pack of kids washing their motorbikes on the side of the road. Hop off the wawa and walk up this road.
After about a mile, you'll get up to the end of the road where you'll see the base of the Tram. Ignore all the guides and turn back onto the road you just came. Take your first right onto a paved road into a residential neighborhood. After 300 yrds, take your first right down onto a side residential street (unpaved). Take this road down the hill until you get to a yellow bridge over a creek. Turn right and 50 yrds up, veer right between the buildings onto the slightly narrower, yet still clear road. You should be walking along the creek with a school to the left of you.
Up ahead you will pass a baseball field to your left, and you will see the path you are on go into the woods. You are now on the maintenance road that goes up to the Tram tower. Walk all the way up to the base of the Tram tower, then turn around and take your first left onto a single-track path about a quarter mile down (there are several other paths splitting off the maintenance road, so using the overshoot-and-backtrack method ensures that you take the right one). About 500 yrds ahead on the singletrack, the trail will turn right and go over cobblestone looking rocks. 25 yrds ahead is the foundation of an old house. Turn back around to where the cobblestones began, and take a right (as if you had kept going straight originally). The correct trail isn't as clear here, but it will become more obvious within 50 yrds.
From here on out, you're pretty much golden all the way to the top. Stay on the obvious trail. You'll rise up quickly, begin a series of switchbacks, and come out onto a ridge with your first great views. Right where the switchbacks begin, it looks like there's another trail that goes off to the left. Take the switchbacks upward.
You'll pass under a low-hanging powerline and eventually leave the ridge and switchbacks and traverse upward on the western face of the mountain. The forest gets denser and muddier here. At one point the trail levels out and follows the contour for a good ways.
The forest will eventually get denser, and you'll find yourself scrambling up a mixture of creek-bed washout and trail. At this point the trail gets steep again. Work your way up the most beaten path and you will shortly pop out onto a paved road. Take note of where you popped out onto the road (right near where the yellow curb ends and the power lines cross from the downhill to the uphill side of the road) for your trip back.
Follow the road up about another mile, and you'll come out to the summit, great views, and a great spot to eat your lunch!
ENJOY!