When planning a trip to Montaña Grande, three distinct topics sit side by side: a guided horseback ride to an accommodation, historical accounts of access to Reserva Karen Mogensen, and an award-winning story by Darrel Villalobos. They answer different questions. The ride specifies the mode of travel, accompaniment, duration, and destination; the Reserva accounts document earlier ways of accessing it; the story adds a cultural dimension. When choosing accommodation in Montaña Grande, you can consider arriving on horseback and a possible visit to the Reserva as separate planning questions.
Horseback ride to an accommodation
From Montaña Grande, you can ride on horseback with a guide for one hour to an accommodation. The hour refers to the ride to the accommodation, not automatically to the entire journey or a longer excursion. The option is guided, the mode of travel is on horseback, and the destination is an accommodation; this makes it possible to plan this leg as a separate time block. If you would like to include this option in your trip, check in advance whether the ride is currently available.
Historical routes to the Reserva
A study published in 2006 describes tourist access to Reserva Karen Mogensen via Montaña Grande as more difficult. The route could be traveled on foot or on horseback; during the dry season, it was also possible to arrive in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The dry-season condition applies to the four-wheel-drive option and should not be attributed to the other access methods mentioned. A report from 2015 also describes how the Reserva de Vida Silvestre Karen Mogensen could be entered on horseback via the community of Montaña Grande. These are two distinct historical points in time: 2006 for travel on foot, on horseback, and the seasonal vehicle option; 2015 for access on horseback via the community. For a visit, check current access options and conditions separately. Allow the specified hour for the guided ride to the accommodation; plan a visit to the Reserva separately, however, since the access reports from 2006 and 2015 do not specify a current travel time. For trip planning, they refer to different points of reference and should be read separately.
An award-winning story
In May 2024, Darrel Villalobos won the “Mi Cuento Fantástico” competition at the peninsula level with a story about a hill. In it, an indigenous treasure is guarded by the crowing of a rooster. The competition win adds a cultural dimension alongside the practical questions about the ride and access. The two aspects are distinct: the competition win was at the peninsula level, while the story is about a hill. The story thus complements practical guidance with a cultural topic.
To the broader travel overview: Puntarenas.
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