The highest peak in all of Costa Rica is Cerro Chirripo, which rises to a height of 12,533 feet. It’s not simple, though, to reach that summit. Most people have to climb 23 miles round trip over two days, gaining more than 8,600 feet of altitude.
There are many different factors to think about before participating in a Cerro Chirripo trek, including permits, weather, accommodations, gear, and a lot more.
Each of these issues will be covered in detail in this guide, along with all of your questions that may arise.
You should be well on your way to trekking to Cerro Chirripo, Costa Rica’s highest point, by the time you finish this tutorial.
Cerro Chirripo Hike Overview & Facts
I wanted to give a general overview of Chirripo and some key points to keep in mind before getting into the specifics.
I will then delve a little more deeply into these emphasis areas for the remainder of the guide.
Cerro Chirripo is the name of the mountain; the name Chirripo means “land of the eternal waters” (12,533 feet/3,820 meters).
Location & Mountain Range:
Chirripo National Park / Cordillera de Talmanca – The mountain is a component of the Cordillera de Talmanca mountain range and is situated within the larger Chirripo National Park. Five diverse ecosystems, predominantly rain and cloud forests, may be found in the park. The park is home to approximately 400 different bird species and over 260 different amphibian and reptile species.
San Gerardo will be your primary point of entry while trying a climb up Chirripo, even though the national park has three entry sectors. You should spend the night at San Gerardo de Rivas the day before or after your hike.
The best time to visit is between January and April because you will be able to avoid the most rain and clouds during that time. The best possibility of nice weather to enjoy those sights will be provided by this.
Accommodations: The majority of visitors choose to spend the night in the 11,155-foot-high Crestones Base Camp. On the first day, make your way up to base camp, where you may enjoy a wonderful lunch, take a cool shower, and spend the night.
Yes, a permission is needed to enter Chirripo National Park because there is a daily limit on the number of visitors. Later in the guide, more details are provided.
The distance from the trailhead to the peak of Chirripo is approximately 11.3 miles (18.1 km), making the entire climb 22.5 miles (36.2 km) long.
How Long Does It Take to Hike Cerro Chirripo?
The two-day hike takes around 15 hours altogether; 8 to 10 hours are spent rising and 5 to 7 hours are spent descending. You will ascend to the Crestones Base Camp on the first day, peak Chirripo on the second day, and then descend to San Gerardo de Rivas.
height Gain: 8,621 feet / 2,628 meters – even if the hike is spread over two days, this height gain is significant. Also keep in mind that everything you ascend must descend as well.
The distances and elevation gains for a two-day Chirripo schedule are broken down below by day.
Day 1: En route to Base Camp
San Gerardo de Rivas is the starting point.
Final Destination: Crestones Base Camp
Distance: 8.6 miles (13.9 kilometers).
Gain in Elevation: 1,991 meters (6,531 feet)
Day 2: Roundtrip to Summit, Part 1
Initial Position: Crestones Base Camp
Chirripo Summit is the halfway point.
Final Destination: Crestones Base Camp
Distance: 8.4 kilometers [5.2 miles]
Elevation Gain: 498 meters (1,635 feet)
Elevation Loss: 498 meters (1,635 feet)
Note that there are other ways to return to base camp.
Day 2 : Retracing Our Steps- Part 2
Initial Position: Crestones Base Camp
Final Destination: San Gerardo de Rivas
Distance: 8.6 miles (13.9 kilometers).
Gain in Elevation: 151 meters/495 feet
Elevation Loss: 1,991 meters/6,531 feet
How Can I Travel to Chirripo?
You must first travel to the trailhead in San Gerardo de Rivas before trekking to the summit of Chirripo.
The ideal site to base oneself before and after a trek up the mountain is San Gerardo de Rivas, a little village at the foot of Chirripo.
You can arrive to San Gerardo de Rivas primarily in one of two ways: by bus or by rental car.
Car rented
Owning a rental car is the simplest way to navigate around Costa Rica in general. This allows you to go at your own pace and adhere to your own schedule the entire time.
Around 3.5 hours will be needed to get from San Jose to San Gerardo de Rivas, 2 hours from Manuel Antonio, and another 2 hours from Uvita.
A very essential driving tip: Some navigation systems do not recognize that some roads are not paved when you enter instructions to or from San Gerardo de Rivas.
Therefore, the apps may direct you on a more hazardous non-paved road for a portion of the travel rather than the usual safe route on major highways/paved roads.
San Jose is the city where this will most likely occur.
Make sure you always pass via San Isidro de El General before arriving at or departing from San Gerardo de Rivas to avoid this.
Commuter Bus
Bus transportation is the other method of reaching San Gerardo de Rivas. To begin with, you must take a bus to San Isidro de El General.
Buses run continuously throughout the day from San Jose to San Isidro de El General, and the trip takes around 3 hours.
You will then need to board a second bus from San Isidro de El General to San Gerardo de Rivas, which are only available a few times per day.
You can also take a taxi from the bus stop if you don’t want to wait for the second bus; the trip should take about 30 minutes.
You will need to get yourself to the hike’s beginning location once you arrive in San Gerardo de Rivas. The precise GPS location is 9.469689, -83.584494.
It is referred to as “Entrada al Sendero Parque Nacional Chirripo” on Google Maps. Depending on the hotel you choose, the distance to the entrance could be as little as a few minutes or as far as a mile.
San Gerardo de Rivas lodging
There should be a lot of lodging options in town for hikers aiming to peak Chirripo.
Depending on your timetable, you may stay there the night after your climb as well. You will undoubtedly need to stay there the night before the climb.
The town core of San Gerardo de Rivas is roughly 0.6 miles from the trailhead, but there are hotels right there as well.
A few top-rated options in the area are listed below. Expect nothing particularly special at this location. Just enough to complete the task at hand.
Cerro Chirripo Temperature & Weather
When planning a climb, the time of year you try it should be one of your top priorities.
Avoid those seasons of the year when rain and clouds can obstruct your view because a large part of the trip is admiring the scenery as you travel (and, of course, from the peak).
Although nothing can ever be guaranteed, the ideal months to climb Cerro Chirripo are from January to April, with February and March being the best two. The region predicts the least quantity of rainfall during this time period.
Just because you travel there in the dry season doesn’t guarantee that every day will be as hot and muggy as it would be elsewhere in the nation.
The temperatures can drop quickly when you begin the ascent at a height of about 4,900 feet above sea level and continue all the way to more than 12,000 feet.
Temperatures at the mountain’s base can reach well over seventy degrees Fahrenheit. But as you get higher, the temperature drops.
At an elevation of about 6,500 feet, the temperature will be around 60 degrees; at an elevation of about 10,000 feet, it will be about 50 degrees; and at the peak, it may be close to the freezing point of 32 degrees.
Of course, the weather can vary from day to day. The true feel temperature can be significantly impacted by the sun, wind, and rain. But at the end of the day, you do need to be ready for all kinds of weather.
What to bring with you?
You will need to be prepared for the various weather and temperatures. It will all come down to layering with a climb like this!
When you begin the hike in shorts and a t-shirt, you can have three or more layers on to keep you warm by the time you reach the summit.
The Chirripo packing list should be as effective as feasible because you’ll also need to think about the weight of your backpack.
The following are the things I’d advise (keep in mind that all clothing should be made of moisture-wicking material):
- Base-layer undergarments
- Walking Boots
- Shorts for Hiking
- Pants for Hiking
- T-shirt with short sleeves
- Long-Sleeved T-Shirt
- Fleece Mid Layer
- Wind and Rain Jacket
- Light Gloves
- Hat
- A headlight
- Sunglasses
- UV protection
- A 1-liter water bottle (which you can fill up while hiking).
- If you wish to take a cold shower, bring a towel.
- Toothbrush, toothpaste, and additional toiletries
- Travel Charger
- Lodge Garments
Permit for Cerro Chirripo
While many tourists to Costa Rica desire to climb Chirripo, this does not necessarily mean they are able to do so.
This is due to the national park only having a certain number of permits available each day.
The number of beds at Crestones Base Camp is equal to the number of overnight permits.
52 places are so open for an overnight journey, according to this information. Additionally, the park has 20 spaces designated for day hikers only.
A single day permit can be appropriate for you if there are no open overnight sites and you believe you can summit in a single day.
Due to the restricted amount of seats and the way the reservation system operates, obtaining a permit can be a little challenging. However, I’ll attempt to outline the exact steps you must take to obtain a permission below.
First, open a SINAC account.
SINAC is the agency in charge of managing the nation’s national parks. You might be going to the internet to buy tickets for other destinations in the nation as well.
On the SINAC website, an account must first be created.
Visit the website, click “Create an Account”, enter your details, and click Register. The first stage of the procedure is now complete!
Obtaining a Chirripo Permit is Step 2
The harder part is now ahead. After entering the account, a menu will appear on the left side of the screen. Select “Online Reservation” from the dropdown menu after selecting “Buy” from the menu.
On the following page, there will be four options to select from:
The Parque Nacional Chirripo is a wildlife area.
Sector / Timetable: San Gerardo
Date of Entry: TBD
TBD Departure Date
You should click the blue “Availability” button (in Spanish: “Disponibilidad”) before entering your dates.
This will display all of the dates for the month along with their availability. Overnight visits are listed in the “Availability” column, while single-day visitors are listed in the “Daily Visit” column.
You can then fill out the two date dropdowns using the available dates you’ve discovered.
These openings start to appear four to six months beforehand.
Step 3: Paying for lodging and meals
Following your submission, SINAC will send you an email with information on your reservation.
You will receive a second email from “Consorcio Aguas Eternas” shortly after that (in my instance, 50 minutes later), instructing you to make reservations for your lodging and meals.
Please email info@Chirripo.org if you do not receive this email.
You will have two days to complete this step before your reservation is cancelled. Don’t wait; simply follow the instructions and, as soon as you receive the email, pay for the lodging and meals.
You will also have the option to choose your meals throughout the reservation process, if you so desire. They sell snacks, drinks, and meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
A single night will set you back $21,811,19, or $34 per person. Each meal costs about $11, and you must order them in advance during the booking procedure.
Now that you have your permits, housing, and food, you are prepared!
Step 4: Signing Up
When you reach San Gerardo de Rivas, the final step becomes applicable. Once you reach there, you’ll need to stop twice.
The first step is to go to the Chirripo National Park office to pick up your wristband or permission.
The office is open from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, Monday through Sunday. This implies that if you want to start the hike at a respectable time, you MUST arrive by 4:00 PM the day before.
Your hotel and food coupons can be picked up at the Consorcio Aguas Eternas, which is open from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM and is located just across the street from the Chirripo National Park office.
When you arrive, you will be given a little lunch voucher and a check-in ticket for your lodging.
Cerro Chirripo Lodge, Crestones Base Camp
For the majority of hikers, climbing Chirripo will take two days: they will go to base camp on day one, climb to the summit on day two, and then descend the mountain. That entails spending the night in Crestones Base Camp, 11,155 feet above sea level.
The top is still 2.6 kilometers and +1,500 feet in height away from the Crestones base camp lodge. Accordingly, the first day’s climb to Crestones will cover around 9 miles and gain 6,500 feet in height.
You will have the opportunity to relax, take a shower, eat, and refuel once you reach Crestones Base Camp on the first day before departing the following day.
For hikers, Crestones has a relatively straightforward but efficient set-up. There are 52 beds in total, the majority of which are rooms with four bunk beds. You will be provided with sheets, pillows, and blankets in addition to a locker to store your belongings for each bed.
Bathrooms: There are 8 communal bathrooms spread out around the lodge. Showers are available, but be aware that the water will be rather cold. If you plan to take a shower, make sure to bring a quick-dry towel because none will be given.
Dining: They provide three meals every day, which must be ordered in advance and paid for with your lodging. Lunch is given from 12:30 to 3:00 PM, while dinner is served from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. Breakfast is served from 5:30 to 8:30 AM.
Food selections include a variety of Costa Rican-inspired dishes for every day of the week as well as vegetarian options.
Check-In and Check-Out Times: Check-in and check-out times are both at noon.
Additionally, keep in mind that if you don’t want to take your own belongings up and down the mountain, they can arrange for a luggage transfer. Each kilogram (2.2 pounds) of this will cost about $5.
Tour of Cerro Chirripo and Guided Hike
To be perfectly honest, the ascent of Cerro Chirripo is a simple walk. The trail is kept up nicely, and there are signs placed all along it.
A guided option is an option for individuals who do not want to worry about permits and who might want to learn more about the area while hiking.
Although some tour operators provide 2-4 day hiking choices, they appear to need specific dates 6+ months in advance. So, they may be certain to reserve the spaces as soon as they become available.
Questions and Answers
I did want to address a few often asked questions regarding Cerro Chirripo before I ended this tutorial.
How Hard is Cerro Chirripo to Climb?
Cerro Chirripo is a challenging mountain to climb from any angle. Over the course of two days, there will be an elevation gain (or decrease) of 9,000 feet and a distance of almost 23 miles.
You must have faith in your talents if you want to participate in the hike.
However, there are a few options to lighten the load, like splitting the hike into three days and/or having the luggage service bring your bags up to base camp for you. All things considered, though, this is one of the more challenging hikes to participate in.
A volcano, is Cerro Chirripo?
In reality, geological deformation and glacial rather than volcanic eruption led to the development of Chirripo.
Is Chirripo a Day Hikeable?
Yes, you can complete the Chirripo hike in a day. However, from San Gerardo to the summit and back, it’s a 23-mile roundtrip climb. Only those in the best possible physical condition should do this.
To complete a one-day hike in one day, you would need one of the day permits that SINAC issues, and you would undoubtedly need to start the hike in the middle of the night.
How can I reserve Cerro Chirripo?
Permits for climbing Cerro Chirripo must be obtained from SINAC at least four months before the climb.
You must then confirm your lodging and meals with Crestones Base Camp after purchasing permits.
Chirripo: Is It Worth It?
Yes, in my opinion, Chirripo is entirely worthwhile. It’s one of the most challenging hikes in Costa Rica, but it’s also one of the most rewarding.
You won’t soon forget the opportunity to stand at the country’s highest peak.
HAVE FUN ON YOUR JOURNEY!
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