The Toucan Trail is an old 4×4 road that parallels the Boundary of Santa Fe National Park. We coined this route the Toucan Trail as you can often spot or hear the Keel Billed Toucan on this route. Though it is not National Park, you will find centurian trees, lianas, and other rainforest species along this trail.

This route connects the community of Alto de Piedra to a small village called “La Piquera”, and is a generally flat trail.

Connecting Routes: Hiking from Alto de Piedra to La Piquera, you will follow the trail until it ends, intersecting another 4×4 road, with beautiful views down the Santa Maria River Valley. You can:1) turn back around, to return to Alto de Piedra, 2) Turn Left and descend 400m over 5km to return to the town of Santa Fe along rural roads with beautiful views, or 3) Turn Right and continue another 6km to Cerro Tute. Be aware that while the Toucan Trail is forested, the other two routes are not, so be prepared for hot sun.

If you do not want to hike back, calling a taxi for pick up is always an option.  Taxi fares to Santa Fe are: $5 from Alto de Piedra, $8-$12 from Cerro Tute. Rates increase at night or early morning.

Trail Length (Alto de Piedra to La Piquera): 2km

Trail Difficulty: 1/5

Cerro Tute is an iconic mountain for Panamanians on the southern tip of Santa Fe National Park (elev. 1050m).  Unlike the majority of Santa Fe National Park, this area is windswept, with low brush surrounding a 4×4 road, with open landscape views, getting better the higher you climb. It can be, however, quite hot and quite windy.

This hike is suitable (but may be tiring) for families with children and parents with children in carriers.  A word of caution, the last 100m has switchbacks where falling is possible, and once you reach the summit, there are drop offs on all sides, so caution should be used with the little ones near the end of the trail.  For people with mobility limitations, the trail itself tends to be wide and well marked, but very steep. This would not be a good hike for someone with bad knees.  This would be a suitable hike for larger groups.

Ease of access of the trailhead: Accessing the trailhead requires a 4×4, but is straightforward and signed. The 4×4 road from Santa Fe winds its way to about 1km from the summit, where you park. The last kilometer to go on foot is quite steep, but the trail is wide.  Because of the elevation gain with the last kilometer, it will take most people an hour or so to reach the summit.  If you do not have a 4×4, a taxi will charge $8-$12 one way from Santa Fe.

Others use the 4×4 road as part of their hike, starting in Santa Fe. You will find it should take 5-6 hours round trip for the hike.

Alternatively, you can start on the Toucan Trail in Alto de Piedra, for a 5-6 hour hike, but since you start at a higher elevation (800m vs 400m of Santa Fe), less of the hiking is uphill.

Trail Length (Tute Arriba to Cerro Tute): 2km round trip

Trail Difficulty: 2/5

Cerro Mariposa is next to Cerro Tute, but while Cerro Tute is windswept and provides a great view, Cerro Mariposa’s trail is beautiful, lush, rainforest. There is no trail that comes to mind which embodies the magnificence of rainforests quite like Cerro Mariposa on a foggy day.

They say that on a clear day, you can see both the pacific and the caribbean from the summit-the only problem is, finding a clear day.  Most days the view from the summit is simply being immersed in clouds and fog.

The trail follows the ridgeline to Cerro Mariposa, ascending from 850m to 1400m over 3.5km.   The trail is quite muddy and quite steep, and worn away in places making progress quite slow.  But that’s OK, as you can spot frogs, ants, birds as you make your way to the top. The 7km roundtrip takes 8 hours on average.

This hike is not suitable families with small children, parents with children in carriers, people with mobility issues nor large groups.

A guide is recommended on this trail.

Ease of access of the trailhead: Easy. The trailhead is located on the road Santa Fe-Guabal, is signed and located in Alto de Piedra.

Trail Length: 7km round trip, about 7-8 hours hiking

Trail Difficulty: 4/5.

The Historic Trail at Chilagre is over 35km, extending from the community of Piragual towards the historic gold mines at Cocuyo, following the Santa Maria River to its headwaters and crossing the continental divide. It has been in use for the past 500 years and is still used by rural community members today.

The trail starts out in a rural area, slowly ascending into the National Park (boundary at kilometer 1.5).  You will trek through coffee farming areas, secondary growth forests, entering into primary growth forests in the national park.  Most do not hike the entire trail, rather choosing to do a day hike near Santa Fe. The star of a day hike is the Santa Maria River, with slow gentle currents, fast rapids and rainforest banks.

Be cautious, river crossings are required. A guide is recommended for this trail, particularly if you chose to hike beyond the first river crossing (1km).

Ease of access of the trailhead: Moderate. The trailhead is located on the road Santa Fe-Piragual.  There is no designated parking area at the trailhead. A taxi will be $8-$10 one way.

Trail Difficulty: Moderate. This is a well defined trail in most places, but there are areas where you must climb over rocks, cross rivers and ascend or descend steep, muddy slopes.

Suitability: This trail is not the best option for young children, even for short hikes. At the beginning, there is a section where you must scramble over large boulders with the river rushing below. A loss of footing will mean a tumble into the river.