Plantación Trail in Soberanía National Park

Plantación Trail (Sendero de Plantación) is an easy trail located within the Soberania National Park. Hike this trail on Sunday, well yesterday.

After about 30 minutes by car, arrive at the entrance, the beginning is 50 meters from the street to Gamboa, 1.5km after passing the entrance of the Summit Zoo.

I arrived at 9 a.m. and there were already many cars in the place, remembering my previous view in which the person who accompanied me got mosquitoes, there was a cloud around him, so I put the repellent on, just in case.

Plantación Trail

On the way, I met some people who were carrying their pet.

I wanted to go with mine, but I didn’t know if it was allowed (currently it isn´t allowed), so I didn’t dare to take it.

I also met many cyclists, some were alone and others with mates.

The Waterfall

One of the things that I liked was seeing some small turquoise waterfalls, in each waterfall they formed a small lagoon.

I even managed to go down, through one of the banks and reach the Masambi Chico river, only this place was in the high above the waterfalls, so they couldn’t be seen from there.

What to see at Plantación Trail?

I also heard many birds singing and even some howler monkeys and I saw some little frogs that caught my attention because they reminded me of golden frogs.

Masambi Chico river — Waterfalls of the Masambi Chico River.

Plantación Trail is quite good, it has some small parts that are not so beautiful and even some of them have bridges that help us, but most of all it depends on how much it rains, because those parts do not have many stones and it gets muddy.

Downed trees are seen to scramble the part that blocks the trail, if you see any, they probably fell recently.

There are some benches to rest, although they are only up to 1.5km from the entrance.

Another thing you will see is the distance signposting that is marked every 500m.

It started to rain

Before reaching kilometer 2, it started to rain, not much and from the branches of the trees, barely a few drops fell on me.

So, I kept moving forward and more than all because I wanted to get to a part, where there are no trees, it is about 20m along the trail, and there are some giant culantro.

However, it was thundering and it started to rain harder, I started to get wet.

It also had about 1km of trail where I did not see any cyclist or hiker so I reached kilometer 3 and started to return, at this point I put on my rain cape.

After about 15 minutes of being back I began to see people who were entering both by bike and hiking.

Bench at plantación trail — On the trail, there are benches and in this case, with a picnic table.

This is like the one in the Metropolitan Park, in which many people use it for outdoor sports.

So, if you go on a weekend day at 8:00 a.m. you will meet people hiking, running or riding a bicycle.

I hiked 6km in less than 2 hours (I was going fast because it was raining).

In the last kilometer a cyclist caught up with me and began to talk with me until the end, from her I found out that they already have a time that they do not charge the entrance to the trail.

If you want to be more likely to see animals, I recommend you go between Monday and Friday.

At the end of the trail it intersects with the Camino de Cruces trail, but this is better done with a guide or a person who knows the trail.

An easy trail

The Plantación Trail is easy and can be done by anyone who can walk and if the 14Km is a long way, you could only do part of it, especially if you go with very young children and you also have to take into account that there are cyclists.

If you go with children or pets, I recommend you do not separate from them, the return is downhill, so you may see some cyclists going down very fast.

the ugly part — On the trail, there are 4 very ugly parts, especially if it rains, 2 have bridges and the others look like this.

Plantación Trail history

Las Cascadas agricultural company, had cocoa, rubber and coffee plantations, and there were even plans to build a chocolate manufacturing plant.

The road was built during the construction of the Panama Canal and it was until Las Cascadas plantación, it was the first paved road, even cars passed.

Advices

Rain cape – rainy season,
Change clothes – rainy season,
Water,
Snacks,
Repellent,
Cool or exercise clothes, not jeans,
Hiking shoes or sneakers,
Leave nothing,
Don’t hike alone.

Distance

7Km one way.

Difficulty

Easy.

Hike time

Exercise (hike fast): 2h.
Hike: 4 h.
Cycling: 0.5 h.

Hours

Everyday,
From 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (However, I have not seen them close).

Prices

Free (by the moment).

Prices after 2 months that protected areas are reopened (closed due to the pandemic).

free: children under 12 years old.
$4.00 nationals and residents.
$2.00 national students.
$2.00 national and resident retirees.
$7.00 foreigners.
$4.00 foreign students.

For commercial video recordings or photo taking, you must have a special permit, in addition, pay an hourly rate.

Note

Due to the situation of the Coronavirus, the entrance fee is not being charged.

At the moment, only hiking is allowed.

You can only go with a booking: write to pnsoberania@miambiente.gob.pa

Information to give to make the booking

Do it with a minimum of 72 hours in advance,
You must put in the subject: Reserva área protegida,
Date of the visit,
Number of people visiting (in case of groups, only up to 8 people are allowed),
Name and telephone number of the person who is booking,
Names, surnames, ages, nationalities and identity card or passport number of the visitors.

Maximum capacity

50 people per day.

Regulations of the National Parks

No pets,
Forbidden to feed the fauna,
Do not bring alcoholic drinks,
No Smoking,
Do not carry or take out, species of fauna and flora or parts and sub-parts of these,

How to get to Plantación Trail?

If you go by car: take the road that goes to Gamboa, I entered the Via Centenario and followed the signs of the Summit Park, which is on the road to Gamboa and the Summit Municipal Park zoo is 1.5 km before the entrance to the trail.

There is a trail sign right-hand at the entrance, then you have to enter about 50m and on the left-hand you will see the parking lot and the trailhead.

If you go by bus, you can take a bus at the Albrook Bus Terminal route C800 (Check the schedule of this route before leaving).

Get off at the entrance of the Summit Municipal Park and then walk 1.5km until you reach the beginning of the trail.

Another route is the F030, but it will leave you 3km from the trailhead, you must get off at the Summit-R stop.

The trail entrance is 1.5km after the Summit Municipal Park entrance.

Note: there is no cell phone signal on the trail.

Updated: 2021.