Pico Duarte - La Ciénaga Route
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 13.34 mi
- Elevation gain
- 8,074 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Difficult
- Elevation loss
- 1,572 ft
- Max elevation
- 10,205 ft
- TrailRank
-
60
4.8
- Min elevation
- 3,661 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Coordinates
- 1999
- Uploaded
- August 21, 2013
- Recorded
- August 2013
near La Ciénaga, La Vega (Dominican Republic)
Viewed 15984 times, downloaded 235 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
(Please note that: Rodroader already uploaded this track on wikiloc: http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=4416542
But his/her track is rather low resolution and doesn't include the way points or the description below. I therefore decided to upload this track so others may benefit from the additional information)
Pico Duarte is the highest mountain in all of the Caribbean Islands, and it is located in the central portion of the mountain range known as the Cordillera Central.
The mountain is covered with pine forest and ferns, and the mountain is a huge difference from the heat of the tropics of the Caribbean.
For a general description of the mountain see the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_Duarte
Park permits are required. All persons are required by the national park service to hire a local guide, and you are not allowed to enter the park without one. The guide will almost certainly insist that you hire mules as well, which will give you the option to rest your feet from time to time and the mules will carry your backpack for you.
So there is no need to rely on this GPX track to find your way, but it will help you to plan your trip better by knowing how far the next reference point is.
There are several hotels in Jaracaboa and this is the logical place to arrange a guide for Pico Duarte. I stayed at Rancho Baiguate and made the hiking arrangements through them which they did excellently. There are plenty of other agents to make arrangements, but in case you want to contact the one I used: http://ranchobaiguate.com/english/tours/pico_duarte.htm but it a simple search will show some alternatives like: http://jarabacoagold.webs.com/picoduartetours.htm (but I have no experience with this one)
Please note that several years ago, there has been a huge forest fire in this area, so there are still many black stumps around, but in the meantime new trees has grown and it's quite green most of the trip.
Camping is allowed practically anywhere inside the park that has a clearing but most people following this track over night at La Comparticion. This location has huts as well.
Most people will do this is a 3 day track.
Day 1: La Ciénaga to La Compartición
Day 2: La Compartición to Pico Duarte and back to La Compartición (10km / 3 ml)
Day 3: La Compartición back to La Ciénaga
The more "express" route will combine day 2 and 3 in a rather long and heavy day.
As Pico Duarte is frequently in the clouds, there is a reasonable big chance that you will not have much of a view from the summit. Therefore most hikers try to be at the summit at sun rise having the biggest chance to have a good view from the summit. If you spend the night in La Compartición (like most do), this means you'll have to leave around 4am in the total dark to making to the summit around sunrise. Even though it is only 5 km to the summit, the track is narrow and quite steep at times. Finding your way with a flash light will slow you down considerably. Also note that during the early morning at the summit it will be very cold and extra clothes are certainly required. Please don't underestimate this. The mountain is on a tropical island, but standing at the summit you would not think it is.
Also note that most of the hike follows a track that becomes a small river when it rains. Also due to the mules, the track has worn out at many places and you'll be following a very narrow track between 2 walls without too much of a view. This makes the hiking sometimes quite slow and tedious. Obviously when it rains, you'll need to find alternative places to place your feet but you are still likely to end up with wet shoes. I would therefore recommend good hiking boots.
For easy of reference, I've included the distance table below. At a large sign at La Ciénaga you can find the same information.
Distance Table
---------------------------------------
La Ciénaga - Los Tablones = 4.0 km = 2.5 ml
Los Tablones - Alto de la Cotorra = 3.8 km = 2.3 ml
Alto de la Cotorra - La Laguna = 2.8 km = 1.7 ml
La Laguna - Agüita Fría = 3.5 km = 2.2 ml
Agüita Fría - La Compartición = 4.0 km = 2.5 ml
La Compartición - Valle de Lilís = 3.8 km = 2.3 ml
Valle de Lilís - Pico Duarte = 1.2 km = 0.7 ml
But his/her track is rather low resolution and doesn't include the way points or the description below. I therefore decided to upload this track so others may benefit from the additional information)
Pico Duarte is the highest mountain in all of the Caribbean Islands, and it is located in the central portion of the mountain range known as the Cordillera Central.
The mountain is covered with pine forest and ferns, and the mountain is a huge difference from the heat of the tropics of the Caribbean.
For a general description of the mountain see the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_Duarte
Park permits are required. All persons are required by the national park service to hire a local guide, and you are not allowed to enter the park without one. The guide will almost certainly insist that you hire mules as well, which will give you the option to rest your feet from time to time and the mules will carry your backpack for you.
So there is no need to rely on this GPX track to find your way, but it will help you to plan your trip better by knowing how far the next reference point is.
There are several hotels in Jaracaboa and this is the logical place to arrange a guide for Pico Duarte. I stayed at Rancho Baiguate and made the hiking arrangements through them which they did excellently. There are plenty of other agents to make arrangements, but in case you want to contact the one I used: http://ranchobaiguate.com/english/tours/pico_duarte.htm but it a simple search will show some alternatives like: http://jarabacoagold.webs.com/picoduartetours.htm (but I have no experience with this one)
Please note that several years ago, there has been a huge forest fire in this area, so there are still many black stumps around, but in the meantime new trees has grown and it's quite green most of the trip.
Camping is allowed practically anywhere inside the park that has a clearing but most people following this track over night at La Comparticion. This location has huts as well.
Most people will do this is a 3 day track.
Day 1: La Ciénaga to La Compartición
Day 2: La Compartición to Pico Duarte and back to La Compartición (10km / 3 ml)
Day 3: La Compartición back to La Ciénaga
The more "express" route will combine day 2 and 3 in a rather long and heavy day.
As Pico Duarte is frequently in the clouds, there is a reasonable big chance that you will not have much of a view from the summit. Therefore most hikers try to be at the summit at sun rise having the biggest chance to have a good view from the summit. If you spend the night in La Compartición (like most do), this means you'll have to leave around 4am in the total dark to making to the summit around sunrise. Even though it is only 5 km to the summit, the track is narrow and quite steep at times. Finding your way with a flash light will slow you down considerably. Also note that during the early morning at the summit it will be very cold and extra clothes are certainly required. Please don't underestimate this. The mountain is on a tropical island, but standing at the summit you would not think it is.
Also note that most of the hike follows a track that becomes a small river when it rains. Also due to the mules, the track has worn out at many places and you'll be following a very narrow track between 2 walls without too much of a view. This makes the hiking sometimes quite slow and tedious. Obviously when it rains, you'll need to find alternative places to place your feet but you are still likely to end up with wet shoes. I would therefore recommend good hiking boots.
For easy of reference, I've included the distance table below. At a large sign at La Ciénaga you can find the same information.
Distance Table
---------------------------------------
La Ciénaga - Los Tablones = 4.0 km = 2.5 ml
Los Tablones - Alto de la Cotorra = 3.8 km = 2.3 ml
Alto de la Cotorra - La Laguna = 2.8 km = 1.7 ml
La Laguna - Agüita Fría = 3.5 km = 2.2 ml
Agüita Fría - La Compartición = 4.0 km = 2.5 ml
La Compartición - Valle de Lilís = 3.8 km = 2.3 ml
Valle de Lilís - Pico Duarte = 1.2 km = 0.7 ml
Waypoints
Picnic
6,566 ft
La Laguna - 1980 mtr - 6496 ft
Information point
8,844 ft
Helipuerte Aguita Fria
Not much of a stop here, but there is a sign
Picnic
8,186 ft
La Comparticion - 2450 mtr - 8038 ft
Picnic
9,744 ft
Valle de Lilis - 2950 mtr - 9678 ft
Picnic
8,823 ft
Aguita Fria - 2650 mtr - 8694 ft
Picnic
5,807 ft
Alto de la Cotorra - 1720 mtr - 5643 ft
Picnic
4,240 ft
Los Tablones - 1278 mtr - 4193 ft
Summit
10,205 ft
Pico Duarte - 3087 mtr - 10127 ft
The Summit of the mountain and the end of the track
Car park
3,684 ft
La Cienaga (Boca de los Rios) - 1110 mtr - 3641 ft
Starting point of the trip
Comments (27)
You can add a comment or review this trail
Thanks for the reference and congrats for the detailed info and pics.
Very good info, thanks! Are mountainbikes allowed on the national park?
@russianyaz: Sorry, I don't know. It has been a long time I was there.
OK, thanks for answering. I'll be couple of years in Dominican Rep and I do lot of MTB. I'm exploring the option of doing this trail on the bike. I don't care carrying it on my back and walking couple of hours, have done it already on the Alps and Pirineos before ;)
Assuming it's allowed, I think it will be an interesting drive and might work out quite well. For sure there will be parts that you will need to carry it from time to time, but plenty of places you could drive as far as I can remember. Good luck on your adventure!
Thanks for the tip, that's encouraging!
I have followed this trail View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Difficult
Dependiendo de la temporada y clima, de moderada a dificil.
I have followed this trail View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Difficult
For a beginner the route could be defined as difficult to very difficult and the reason is simple, the weather can change very quickly , is also taken into account the time of year you choose to climb.
This route is very well done , well explained and marked points of interest ... but there are many more points of interest that can be added and that on my next trip I can review , for example , this route has a point of convergence where several national parks as well as a point of convergence between the provinces can also be marked as a point of interest sources of drinking water and bind conventional names , etc.
I loved this route is the most complete I've seen ... I want to know that measuring equipment used to create the route.
Para un principiante la ruta podría definirse como difícil a muy difícil y la razón es simple, el clima puede cambiar muy rápidamente, también se toma en cuenta la temporada del ano que elijas para subir.
Esta ruta esta muy bien realizada, bien explicada y con los puntos de interés señalizados... pero hay muchos mas puntos de interés que pueden añadirse y que en mi próximo viaje yo puedo reseñar, por ejemplo, esta ruta tiene un punto de convergencia en donde se unen varios parques nacionales así como un punto de convergencia entre las provincias también se pueden marcar como punto de interés las fuentes de agua potable y nombres convencionales, etc.
Me encanto esta ruta, es la más completa que he podido ver... me gustaría saber que Equipo medición usaste para crear la ruta.
I have followed this trail View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Difficult
Es la ruta mas corta para subir al pico duarte, pero es intensa!
Si supieras que no lo es tanto...para un principiante si!
I have followed this trail View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Very difficult
Es dura para alguien que nunca haya andado más de 10km por un terreno de montaña o no tenga un fondo y una preparación física adecuada. El recorrido es corto pero intenso, con bastante desnivel en ciertas zonas. Cuidado con las rodillas y los tobillos en los senderos de bajada, un esgince puede fastidiar por completo todos los planes.
Siendo asi no es dificil de hacer... para un principiante que no tiene una idea de con que se va a enfrentar puede que lo sea; Es evidente que habrá mucho desnivel ya que la disciplina es montanismo. Todo el que quiera disfrutar del viaje debe seguir un entrenamiento previo y unas condiciones. muchas veces se hace difícil no por el hecho de ser dificil sino porque la gente no va preparada, no llevan buenos calzados, etc.
Que sea montañismo no dice nada, el problema es que el desnivel se acumula en segmentos muy cortos, por lo que se hace bastante complicado. Puedes subir el mismo desnivel pero si lo haces repartido en 50km (por decir algo) es mucho menos complicado pues no tendrás segmentos con tanta dificultad. Pero lo dicho, si tienes un fondo físico decente, estas acostumbrado a andar y por supuesto, vas preparado, es una ruta normal sin ninguna complicación. Yo la hice en 2 días solo, subi el 1er día hasta el pico y regresé a La Compartición a dormir, al siguiente día baje a La Ciénaga de nuevo, estaba allí a las 2pm.
@Ccastillo_wf: Thanks for the nice review. I agree, there are options to improve the route with additional waypoints. However, Wikiloc doesn't have the option to add waypoint after a trail has been uploaded. The only solution is to delete the current one and then upload a new one. Then it would loose the almost 5000 views as well as all comments received. Which I think would be too bad. However, feel free to use my track, add the additional waypoints and upload a new trail (you could even call it version 2). After uploading, you can leave a comment here or I can at least modify the description and put in a link to your version. The point of wikiloc is to share trails so we have the best outdoor experience.
@GerardNL: Really this route has tremendous quality and excellent accuracy, I hope that at some point improve this API so that we can add details to routes. This stretch will be my ferent and have added as a segment on my watch. I'll try to make a path quality as he can to give continuity to your legacy of good routes !.
I will go up again in January but I will do the trail SABANETA - PICO DUARTE, I'll have this to consider your points and to keep improving.
@russianyaz : Lo que haz hecho lo hacen los elites!! yo aspiro!!! saludos
Hombre, gracias, pero no, con poco de fondo físico se hace sin problemas. Cuando estaba investigando las diferentes rutas encontré uno aquí que lo hizo en unas 10h, desde La Ciénaga hasta el pico y de vuelta a la Ciénaga. Claro, es uno que hace "trail running" y tal, así que para él no fue problema.
Has somebody tried this route in a day, I do spartan races all the time and I would like to know from 1-10 how difficult will be to complete this for an experienced obstacle racer. Thanks.
hi diazallen, yes, I remember contacting some user here in wikiloc that published his track to Pico Duarte and he made it in just one day. He is a trail runner with wide experience. Sorry, can remember his name, just look the different Pico Duarte uploads and the one that has comments from me, should be that. I wanted to do it on a mtb, but as is a natural park, is protected and bikes are not allowed. Good luck!
Found it! Here is the track: http://es.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=5948542 name "Running Pico Duarte por libre", it means, running on my own. I remember that as he was so fast up and down, the guide that is mandatory to pay for with a donkey, couldn't of course keep up with him, so he went all the way up and down on his own. If you check his profile you will see he has climbed almost every highest elevation on every country in Latin America, including Aconcagua mountain.
Thank you so much russianyaz, I would reach out to him for some tips, I may be doing it next year.
Tengo una pregunta, Si llevo tienda de campaña para pasar una noche en la montaña, se podría??
Teniendo en cuenta que llevo comida suficiente, agua, y abrigos.
Hola que tal. Quisiera saber si existe algún grupo que se dedique a reunirse y hacer senderismo en Santo Domingo. Algo que no sea tipo tours. Disculpa que te pregunte no se si puedas ayudarme.
I have followed this trail View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Difficult
We did the 2 day express route where we started at 6am and reached the camp at Comparticion (spelling?) around 5pm. We were with a fast group who separated from us, as they were Triathletes and experienced hikers, we were not. The last part was very difficult even though it was downhill, because it was raining and the trial turned into a small river. The people who did not have a Pancho were very cold. We tried to leave early at 3:30 am for the summit, but couldn't due to the weather so we left around 6am. We made the summit by about 8 or 9 am and went back to the camp to gather our belongings. A few us decided to take the mule back down, as our knees were worn out. We got down around 5pm and our butts hurt more than our knees. The 2 day express route is only recommended for people in good shape. Make sure you test your knees before you do this hike, as going downhill proved to be quite painful to people with knee issues. We had bad weather so unfortunately the views were no good. You will need a guide for this hike, they are easily available and fees are not high. The guide will bring all equipment needed on extra mules, which they have also for people who may need them on the way up or down.
Hola Wikilocers!
Me gustaría saber si dentro del grupo de los Dominicanos y/o extranjeros aquí alguno pertenece a algún grupo u organización o club de Senderismo, ya que me gustaría participar del mismo, por que me gusta conocer y poner a prueba mi capacidad en estas cosas.
Siempre he tenido el deseo de ir al Pico Duarte y/o otros lugares exóticos de nuestro país; Me he estado equipando con algunas herramientas técnicas, como Aparatos GPS (Handheld, SmartWtach, y tienda de campaña), para hacer senderismo y conocer los tesoros de nuestro país.
Go with a tour operator they put groups together, we had a stranger in our group. You have to use a licensed tour guide to do this hike. Just google it, there are several, I don't remember the name of our operator but I could find it in emails if necessary.
I have followed this trail verified View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Difficult
Buena experiencia en una ruta con un final muy especial. Estar en lo más alto del caribe.