Catarata Rio Agrio in Costa Rica: the Jurassic Park Hike

Catarata Rio Agrio is one of the many waterfalls in Costa Rica that you can see. With so many waterfall options, it can be hard to decide which ones to spend your time at. This one happens to be located on what I like to call Waterfall Row (ha). It’s a bumpy road with signs galore pointing to different waterfalls and pools you can see along the way, including the more popular Catarata del Toro.

This is a bold statement, but Rio Agrio was one of my favorite places we went to in Costa Rica. Sure, the Dinoland section is a little strange (more on that later) but it makes sense once you start the hike. This place is like stepping into a Jurassic Park movie set. When I say I was in awe, I was in awe. This is a beautiful hike and waterfall.

Getting to Rio Agrio

Rio Agrio is located about 2 hours from San Jose if you’re driving there directly. We chose to go up a different road (126) to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens and then over to the Poas Volcano. From there, the best route took us up and over the volcano, then back down that bumpy road (708). Road 708 is where you’ll find all sorts of different options and sites to see.

When I first read about Rio Agrio, I came across an article that said it was sort of off the beaten path and I was fully under the impression that we would be walking onto someone’s private property, handing them some cash and asking them to point us in the direction of a trail. That was not the case at all. It’s a big production with signs, people telling you where to park, a busy restaurant, etc. You can’t miss it.

Parking:

There is a large parking area with plenty of space to park. When we pulled in, someone guided us in the direction of where to go. Parking here is also free (a rarity!).

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When to Go

For this particular hike, I wouldn’t say it matters too much on what time of day that you go. A lot of the trail is covered with foliage so you aren’t in direct sun for most of it. We went to Costa Rica in August during rainy season and even after a huge downpour, the hike was great and not very muddy.

But prior to that, we were literally sitting in the car while it poured and finally just decided to hike through it with raincoats on. You’ll definitely want to make sure you have a good waterproof jacket during rainy season for times like these. But it miraculously cleared up once we started walking. I assumed the trail would be a muddy mess but it wasn’t at all.

Unlike the Catarata del Toro nearby, Rio Agrio is open 7 days a week. So yes, it is open on Sundays when Catarata del Toro is not. We learned this the hard way. Catarata del Toro was pretty high on my list but since it wasn’t open, we went down the road to Rio Agrio instead and I am SO glad we did.

And since we went on the weekend and on a day where other waterfalls are closed, it was very busy in the parking lot and there were a lot of locals there. However, it seemed like it was mostly families and the most crowded part was the restaurant. When we got to the trail, it was pretty empty and there were only a handful of people at the waterfall.

Opening Hours: 7am-5pm

Tickets: about $10 per person

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Hiking to Catarata Rio Agrio

It was a little chaotic when we arrived and we were a little unsure where to start. The restaurant was packed with people but it turns out that that’s where you need to go to purchase tickets. The trail to start is up near the parking lot, so you do have to go down first, buy tickets and get wrist bands, and then head back up. If you go through to the start of the trail, there is a little stall there but I think they only sell souvenirs and not wrist bands.

The Trailhead

Head through the parking lot to a walkway surrounded by flowers and you’ll come to the entry for both the trailhead to Catarata Rio Agrio and the Dinoland entrance. We showed our wristbands to the people at the stand and one came over to tell us about the trail.

The entrance is very much dedicated to the Dinoland section and I was a little worried about how cheesy this hike would be. You’re greeted by a large plastic snake after all. Anyway, take the trail to the right to head to the waterfall.

The trail starts out nice and easy, though you do get a little glimpse of Dinoland along the way. You get a little peak at life-size dinosaurs that are in the valley and you can definitely hear them. Yes, they roar.

Viewpoint

Along the way, there’s an option to head up towards a viewpoint. It’s not a long walk out of the way but it is uphill. We took the trail up to see what was there, but it was a bit underwhelming. There’s not much to see besides green hills and a viewing platform with a rainbow photo op.

We spent about one minute there and then headed back down towards the waterfall trail.

Rio Agrio

The trail is pretty easy. You’ll come across paved parts, bridges, and stairs at the beginning. Once you get a ways into the trail, the dinosaur noises start to drown out and then it feels a little more authentic.We hardly saw anyone on the trail as well. I don’t know if it had to do with rainy season, or the fact that it had downpoured right before we started the hike, but we had it nearly to ourselves.

Further along, you’ll come to a river and a bridge. This is actually the most acidic river in Costa Rica and Rio Agrio translates directly to ‘sour river’. The river is affected from gases and acid rain from the nearby Poas Volcano. About 5km away from where the bridge is, there are also thermal springs with water temperatures between 64ºF (18ºC) and 132ºF (56ºC)! Near these thermal springs is where the water pH is around 1.4 to 2.5. The waterfall is less acidic as other nearby water sources help to dilute it.

And once you reach this point, you’ll know you’re almost to the waterfall.

This area is where you also start to realize why there is a Dinoland right next door. The landscape is straight out of a Jurassic Park movie. There’s a corner that you turn along the trail that just makes your jaw drop. The hanging bridges, the waterfalls in the distance, the steep, rocky walls covered in greenery–it’s truly stunning. And it totally looked like a dinosaur could just pop out.

There’s times when you travel where places just take your breath away and really just remind you that you’re in a completely different part of the world. I got the travel feels while walking up here.

There are actually two waterfalls at Rio Agrio. The main falls and a tiny stream to the left. There’s quite a bit of mist coming off the main waterfall but it just adds to the ambiance. You will get a little wet the closer you go.

You can walk up closer to the waterfall but you’ll be scrambling over rocks. Because of the mist, the rocks are slippery and you might want to protect any camera gear you might have from getting wet. Even from the far side of the rocks, my camera lens was covered in water droplets.

There are a few benches on the far side of the rocks, but it’s not the best place to take a break or have a snack. You can feel the mist from there as well so it’s not a dry location. There were a few people here when we arrived but they cleared out shortly after too. From what I expected, I thought there would be a lot more people around but it was a nice, quiet hike.

Dinoland

When we started on our way back, we noticed a little fork in the trail that had an open doorway to another path. We went through to check it out and it ended up being the Dinoland section. Now, I can’t say I recommend doing that because I’m assuming there’s a different cost to do this section and you’re probably not supposed to take that fork otherwise. But now you know, it leads to Dinoland.

So what is the infamous Dinoland? It’s a walkable trail that takes you along to different mechanical dinosaurs. And when you think of mechanical dinosaurs, you might think of some cheesy, plastic thing (and they are sort of), but these are also fairly realistic. Most of them have some sort of movement and make Dino noises.

It wasn’t as bad as I anticipated and if we had gone with kids, it would have been great. I think kids would really enjoy this section and they have made it pretty cute. We definitely saw more people in this area but even then, it never felt crowded.

They also got some areas with dinosaur bones, some cute things to climb on and explore for kids. If you’re traveling with younger kids, it’d be a fun thing to do with them.

The entire hike to the waterfall and back to the entrance took about an hour and was a pretty easy trail to do.

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The Blue Pools

Aka Pozas Celestes

Several of the waterfalls in this area actually have blue pools to check out as well–Rio Agrio included. When we finished the hike, we went back to the restaurant check out to inquire about hiking to the blue pools but for some reason they were closed that day. I’m not sure what would be the factor to cause them to close because I had also read online that people had hiked it in rainy weather before.

It’s not ideal to hike to blue pools in rainy weather of course because it will stir up the sediment and will not be as blue (and may even be more brown). But anyway, they are located just down the road from the parking lot I believe and there’s another hike to reach them that is mostly stairs. And I think they might give you a lift to the beginning of the hike, so you don’t have to wander and wonder.

The pools are fed from a different river than the waterfall and the mineral content in the water gives them their blueish color. There are several different pools to swim in and a place you can change. I was bummed they were closed especially because the weather had cleared up by the time we were back.

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Things to Know

1. Rio Agrio is open EVERY day of the week (yay!)
2. Wrist bands are needed for entry and can be purchased inside the restaurant.
3. I assume there’s a different ticket/price for each section but we don’t speak much Spanish and just handed over some cash at the time without really knowing our options. But I think there are probably combo tickets to do the waterfall, Dinoland and/or the Blue Pools.

What to Bring

• Good closed-toed shoes for walking/hiking
• Rain jacket/rain gear if you’re in rainy season
• Water bottle
• Camera
• Microfiber Lens Cloth – to clean your camera lens from the waterfall spray!
• Swimsuit if you’re going to the blue pools as well
• Quick dry towel
• Water shoes

Where to Go Next

Check out some nearby places below or a full 10-day Costa Rica Itinerary.

• Catarata del Toro – This waterfall is in a volcanic crater and located just up the road (but not open on Sundays)
• La Fortuna – This town has a great view of the Arenal Volcano, another waterfall hike and hot springs!

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