Costa Rica's rooftop is not a volcano — it's a glacier-carved granite massif that rises out of cloud forest to a bare, wind-scoured summit at 3,821 meters. The climb starts in San Gerardo de Rivas, a village of trout farms and coffee smallholdings above San Isidro de El General, and follows one relentless trail up through pastures, mossy oak forest, and finally the páramo — a high-altitude moorland of dwarf bamboo that exists almost nowhere else in the country.
Nearly everyone overnights at Crestones Base Camp around 3,400 meters and pushes for the summit in the dark, headlamps strung up the final rocky scramble, to catch sunrise above a sea of clouds. On a clear morning you can see both the Pacific and the Caribbean from a single point — a view very few summits anywhere can offer. Park permits are strictly limited and sell out months ahead; local operators handle the reservation, the base-camp bunks, meals, and even pack-horse luggage service.
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Cantons of San José · 20
Operators & experiences
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Good to know
Best season
December to April — dry-season mornings give the clearest summits; February and March are the most reliable.
Difficulty & access
Demanding: about 14.5 km and 2,200 m of climbing to base camp, then 5 km more to the top. Most hikers take 2–3 days from San Gerardo de Rivas, Pérez Zeledón.
Insider tip
SINAC permits are capped and released months in advance — lock the permit before you book flights, and sleep a night in San Gerardo first: the trail starts near 1,500 m and altitude is real up there.