by Rebecca Hollman
updated June 15, 2020

Cerro Los Picachos Hike - Olá, Panama

El Valle de Anton, mostly shortened and called just El Valle, is a cool mountain town a short drive away from Panama City. Known as an outdoor adventure spot, it draws a big crowd of Panamanians from Panama City who want to come play in the mountains for the weekend. The town itself is located in a volcanic crater, with the ridges and peaks surrounding it in all directions. These leads to tons of epic hikes just steps away from the edge of the town. Besides the plentitude of trails right next to the town center, there are also many amazing trails day trips away. One of these epic trails is Cerro Los Picachos de Ola. This dramatic ridge line pops up drastically out of the middle of nowhere and creates beautiful peaks with the surrounding flat valley around in all directions. The peaks are a short distance away from the small town of Ola - an hour and a half drive away from El Valle.

About This Hike:

This short but steep hike leads to some of the most drastic scenery in all of Panama. The ridge line of Cerro Los Picachos rises up sharply out of completely flat valley and creates picturesque views in all directions. During sunrise and sunset, the colors around this ridge are incredible. In the dry season, the tall grass is strikingly yellow and orange and in the wet season it is neon green. Both situations create some amazing photos, especially for sunrise in the wet season and sunset in the dry season. There is very little information about this hike available on the internet and so I am not sure exactly how long the trail is in total. If I had to guess, it would be max 1 mile up and then 1 mile back down (more likely 0.5 miles up and then 0.5 miles back). The trail meanders through a farmer’s land until you reach the edge of the ridge line and then it goes straight up for a short time. Once you reach the first peak, the trail sort of peters off. Apparently you can keep following the trail to more peaks farther down the ridge line but the trail is very faint and hard to see.

The reason there is very little information about this trail is because the trail is on private land. So you should go out of your way to ask the farmer’s permission before entering his property. When we arrived, we hadn’t contacted anyone previously. However, when we pulled up and parked there was someone out in the fields and so we asked him if it was OK for us to go on the trail. I don’t know if he was actually the owner, but he didn’t seem like he minded at all that we were there. The trailhead starts by going through a gate onto private property and then another gate a few steps later. From there you walk through a pasture and around to the left to the base of the mountain. There the trail goes straight up the side of the ridge line and is very pronounced. If you can’t get in contact with anyone, I think it is still safe to access the trail (as they are used to hikers going on the trail) but please be courteous, quiet and don’t leave any trash behind.

Getting to the Trail:

To get to the trailhead, head from El Valle to the small town of Ola - about an hour and a half drive. Once you reach the town of Ola, continue along the road you took in, following it as if you were heading to El Cristo de Ola, another small town. As you drive out of Ola, you will see the big mountain peaks along your left hand side and the road will start winding uphill. You will reach a house (marked on the photo below) and this is where the trailhead starts. Before the house on the left, there is a small space for parking. It can fit a maximum of 2 or 3 cars. Make sure your car is pulled all the way over, as the road is blind to this parking spot and so cars could swipe a parked car as they go past. From there, there is a small person gate that you can let yourself into. You will walk across this small cow pasture (with the house on the right) and then go through another person gate. Make sure you securely close the gates behind you as they have animals here. From there the trail goes to the left through an open, big pasture until you reach the edge of the mountain. From there, it rises up quickly to bring you to the summit of the first peak. If at all possible, you should try to get permission from the landowners before doing this trail.

There are no entrance fees or entrance hours as the trail is on private property.

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