The Volcano Challenge

Pick up at Enrique Malek Airport in David and transfer to Boquete. Orientation to the town of Boquete and introduction, setup of controls and suspension to the Husqvarna TE250i enduro motorbikes at JST Panama headquarters.

Caldera-Fortuna. 8.30 am tour introduction and safety briefing before we head out for a day of riding. We will ride from the area of Volcancito to Lucero through country lanes with coffee plantations on either side, once we get to Lucero we will be riding down a gravel trail that leads to the sleepy town of Caldera. Crossing the Caldera River we will pass by the hot springs and ride a flowing easy trail to the town of Paja Sombrero. From Paja Sombrero we will head up the Caldera Valley to a height of 1,337M with fantastic views down the valley. The riding in this stretch of trail is a fast double track along the side of the valley and it comes to an end at the Fortuna dam which is the halfway point between Chiriqiui and Bocas del Toro. We will stop here for a rest beside a waterfall and eat some fresh fruit and some chicken empanadas to fuel us up for the next leg of our adventure. We cross over the dam and work our way down the other side of the valley arriving back in the town of Caldera for lunchtime. Lunch is at our favorite local restaurant which serves some excellent local food. After lunch we will cross over the Caldera river again and ride down the trail to the hot springs “La Abuela”. Bring your swimsuits so we can take a well-earned dip in the therapeutic waters. At this point we have a choice, we can either spend a longer time at the hot springs and then head back to Boquete on the gravel road we came down from or if we have enough energy, we can hit a single technical track back up to Boquete. Once we are back at JST Panama HQ we will transport you down to Hotel Ladera. 102km double track, 10km of optional single track, 308M-1337M altitude

Potrerillos. 8.30 am pickup at Hotel Ladera, tour introduction and safety briefing before we head out for a day of riding. Heading in another direction today we once again start by riding through some country lanes to the area of Palmira, famous for its geisha coffee plantations, passing Palmira we come to the town of Potrerillos which is our jumping point for today's rides. We head up towards Volcano Baru through some double track first of all which then narrows down to a challenging single track that winds its way through the cloud forest to a height of 1,720M. We have various single-track trails in this area and we will spend the morning exploring all of them. We will head down to the town of Potrerillos for lunch and then after lunch, we will ride through the orange groves to an area called La Elvira for a mixture of double track and single-track trails. If the group has a lot of experience, we have a “Hard Enduro” single technical track in this area also. Back in the town of Potrerillos we will head back to JST HQ for a well deserved cold beer. Once we are back at JST Panama HQ we will transport you down to Hotel Ladera. 100km double track, 20km single track, 800M-1720M altitude

Gualaca. 8.30 am pickup at Hotel Ladera, tour introduction and safety briefing before we head out for a day of riding. Following the first part of day 1, we will start at the area of Lucero where we will ride through some farm access trails with spectacular views of the surrounding canyons and Volcano Baru. This trail quickly turns to a horse trail that crosses a couple of small rivers which we have the opportunity to jump in quickly to cool down. From the last river crossing the trail winds up through different challenging at times terrain which then drops down to the town of Caldera through a really fun, fast but obstacle-strewn section. Crossing the Caldera River we head in the direction of Gualaca, riding a short distance on double track and then on to single track climbs through farmland and up to a mountain ridgeline. Great views from the top of the Pacific Ocean and Caldera on one side and Gualaca on the other. A fast, double-track ride down the other side of the mountain brings us to the town of Gualaca. Lunch will be in a local restaurant in the town square and then after lunch, we will ride 5 minutes to the famous slot canyons “Canguilones” for a refreshing soak. We can ride up the river crossing from the rock to gravel river beds and then on to a trail that leads us out to the reservoir of Barrigon where we ride around its perimeter on a gravel road to a trailhead that leads up to Caldera. Riding up through flowing farm access trails we reach the town of Caldera and then fast run home to Boquete on gravel roads ends the day. Once we are back at JST Panama HQ we will transport you down to Hotel Ladera. 90km double track, 30km single track, 120M-1100M altitude

Volcano Challenge, Barqueta beach to the top of Volcan Baru. 5 am pick up at Hotel Ladera, tour introduction and safety briefing before we head out for a day of riding. Early rise as we have 160km of riding today! Load up the bikes and we drive down to the beach of Barqueta. With an early start, we head off along fast sandy trails from the beach through small villages and then across a boulder-strewn river and then through sugar cane fields. Right before David, we come to a canyon that the river destroyed the bridge so the only way across is to lower the bikes down the canyon side by ropes! Refuel in David, then we reach the trails of San Antonio and El Valle which are super fun fast tracks leading up to Gualaca. Crossing the wide river at Gualaca we take the technical single track up to Caldera and then further single track up to the famous “Nino Grande” hill which seems to be never-ending! Arriving at Jaramillo we pass through some more single-track connections that drop down to Boquete. Refueling in Boquete we then ride through a coffee plantation to arrive at the foot of the Volcano. Only 30 more minutes and we will be at the top of the Volcano the highest part of Panama. Important to keep your momentum up on this last stretch as there is a lot of loose rock in sections. Finally, we reach the top at 3,474M. Mission completed! Once we are back at JST Panama HQ we will transport you down to Hotel Ladera. 110km double track, 50km single track, 0-3474M altitude.

A Free Day to explore what Boquete has to offer.

We will pick you up at Hotel Ladera and transport you to David’s Enrique Malek Airport to board your departing flight.