La Marta Wildlife Refuge

February 26, 2022

After some time without going hiking, my friends and I were very excited to do a new hike again. We decided to head to Cartago province, where the hikes typically include colder temperatures and rain. But since we were in the dry season, at least the rain was not a problem. We decided to go far away from San José to visit La Marta Wildlife Refuge.

But what exactly is this Wildlife Refuge? La Marta is a place where you can connect with nature differently. You can hike its 17 Km of trails surrounded by nature, have a swim in one of the 17 natural pools of its two rivers, or spend the night camping in the wilderness.

How to get to La Marta Wildlife Refuge?

You may be excited to visit La Marta (and with a good reason), so here you will find all the information you need to locate this place.

La Marta Wildlife Refuge is located in Pejibaye district of Jiménez of Cartago province. The exact location of the place is here: La Marta location. If you live or stay in San José, it will take around 2 hours to get here. But the views along the way are lovely, so you don’t feel the 2 hours.

If you want to take a break while you drive there, you can visit the Mirador Ujarrás or the Ruinas de Ujarrás. The first place is a famous lookout where you can see the valley of Orosí (free entrance and has a parking lot). And the ruins are a famous landmark of the zone. Both places are on the way to La Marta.

Facilities at La Marta Wildlife Refuge

Once you get to La Marta Wildlife Refuge, you will be charged 2,600 colones if you are Costa Rican at the entrance. If you are a tourist, you’ll have to pay $16 for adults and $12 for kids. You will drive for 500 more meters, and then you’ll see the parking lot. The day we went there, a local guy was selling souvenirs and snacks, which we all thought were delicious.

There are 4 bathrooms and 3-4 places with roof and water service next to the parking lot. Here you can camp or do a BBQ after the hike. There is also a cafeteria/restaurant right next to these places. Besides the regular fee to La Marta, they also offer packages for families. The packages include transportation, lunch, and a coffee break in the afternoon. Other packages only provide guided tours. You’ll have to coordinate with them at info@lamarta.org.

On the other side of the parking lot, you’ll see a hanging bridge. That’s where the adventure begins!

The Ruins and Nature

At the end of the XIX century, one part of La Marta Wildlife Refuge used to be an agro-industrial project to grow coffee, sugar cane, cocoa, and bananas. This is why you will see some ruins consumed by nature overtime at the beginning of the hike. This element would make it as if you were in an India Jones or Tomb Raider movie. You can see what I mean in this video:

@ycostaricaa

Hike + river + camping + ruins #costarica #hiking #nature #lamarta

♬ original sound – Visit

Also, if you haven’t followed us on TikTok and would like to see more cool videos of places in Costa Rica, you can check it here: Your Costa Rica Adventure’s TikTok.

Hiking at La Marta Wildlife Refuge

After looking at this fantastic combination of nature and ruins at the beginning of the hike, you’ll start walking right next to the river. The difficulty of the hike depends a lot on the trails you take. Overall the difficulty is moderate/easy. If you avoid the long trails that go south, you’ll be just fine.

While walking right next to the river, we checked each of the natural pools. We wanted to see which had the best access and deep for the swim at the end. After walking 2.5 Km, we found an excellent lookout with a superb view! This is where we decided to do the snack break.

I suggest spending some time on the lookout. You can breathe fresh air, enjoy a great view and recharge yourself with the peace you can sense.

After spending some time on the lookout, we continue our war back to the ruins. The trails are in excellent condition, but it was dry season when we went here. I guess it’s a lot more moody and slippery in the rainy season.

After completing our 4.5Km hike, we decided to go back to one of the first natural pools we saw to swim. The water of the river was freezing, but it felt incredible.

View from the lookout at La Marta Wildlife Refuge

Camping and other services at La Marta

Even though we didn’t camp at La Marta this time, we definitely talked about going back to camp. There are two zones where you can camp. The one right next to the restaurant and the bathrooms. And another section right next to the main ruins. I feel the place right next to the ruins would be better because it would be a more spooky experience.

Most of the spots to put your tent have a roof so you won’t be affected by rain. If you don’t have camping gear, you can rent it for an extra fee. The camping fee is 6,800 colones for Costa Ricans and $22 for tourists.

They have a small hotel next to the entrance (do not expect a lot of luxury). If you want to spend the night there, the fee is $42 or $57, including food. They also offer different types of tours that I heard are also nice:

Historic Tour: Tourists ($22) / Costa Ricans (7,000 colones)
Natural Tour: Tourists ($22) / Costa Ricans (7,000 colones)
Birdwatching Tour: Tourists ($28) / Costa Ricans (10,000 colones)
Night Tour: Tourists ($28) / Costa Ricans (10,000 colones)

Related Post: Cloud Forest Hike at Iyok Ami

Where to go after?

After you finish your hike, swim in the river and change to clean clothes. I guess you will be starving! (We were). You can eat at La Marta’s restaurant, or you could also keep reading! The following restaurants are the local’s favorite options when they go to Cartago during the weekends:

La Casona del Cafetal: This restaurant is part of a hotel of the same name. They usually have a delicious buffet lunch. They have a nice parking lot, and they are also next to Lake Cachí. You can walk to the lake and they some great photos from there! La Casona del Cafetal’s location.

Bocadito del Cielo: This place became famous years ago because of its reasonable prices and excellent Costa Rican food. Nowadays the food is a bit more expensive, but the food is still good quality. Order the Tortilla de Queso if you go there. Location for Bocadito del Cielo.

La Posada de la Luna: This is my new favorite restaurant of Cartago. The place offered delicious food, and the prices were not as high as the other two restaurants. This is also a Costa Rican food restaurant. If you visit La Posada de la Luna, try the Chorreada. Location for La Posada de la Luna.