Horseback Riding To The Oropendola Waterfall And Rinc

Enjoy a perfect one day tour in Guanacaste hiking by the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in the National Park and visiting the spectacular Oropéndola Waterfall. We’ll start the tour from Hotel Hacienda Guachipelín, riding our calm and friendly ranch horses 45 minutes on scenic forest trails to the waterfall. We have a short walk when we get to the waterfall canyon. The Oropéndola Waterfall spills an impressive 82 feet (25 meters) to a sparkling turquoise pool below. The beautiful vegetated canyon of Rio Blanco (White River) makes a picturesque tropical oasis perfect for a refreshing swim. Afterward, we will continue a short way to the Rincón de la Vieja National Park’s main gate. From there, we’ll go by foot on the Las Pailas (“The Cauldrons”) Trail – a loop trail of about 2.5 miles (3.5 km), where you can enjoy the best views of the active volcano without climbing the main crater. Here you can find a great variety of vegetation and trees, and the Park is home to mammals like raccoons, white-nosed coatis, Central American agoutis, armadillos, tapirs and three species of monkeys, as well as birds such as the Blue-crowned Motmot, the Crested Guan and the Emerald Toucanet. The most impressive and spectacular features of the National Park are its volcanic elements. Steam and sulphur pour out of the yellow and rust-colored ground at natural fumaroles. Clay and coffee-colored pools bubble with boiling hot volcanic water. Smooth grey volcanic mud froths and explodes upward at the “Cauldrons” (“Las Pailas” in Spanish), for which this section of the Park is named. You’ll also find beautiful little rushing rivers and small waterfalls crisscrossing the trails. When we finish our hike, the horses will be ready to take us back to the Hacienda (40-minute ride).