Sierra del Escambray
Rising up to the northwest of Trinidad are the steep, pine-coated slopes of the Guamuhaya mountains, more popularly known as the Sierra del Escambray. This area is home to some of the most spectacular scenery in Cuba, though its highest peak – the Pico San Juan – is a modest 1140m high. A large proportion of this mountain range sits within the borders of the neighbouring provinces of Cienfuegos and Villa Clara but the heart of the visitor park and hiking area, the Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes, is in Sancti Spíritus province.
Topes de Collantes
The mountain resort of Topes de Collantes is a kind of hotel village, its unsubtle architecture completely out of keeping with the beauty of its surroundings – as is the road clumsily blasted down the middle of the resort. Though there are a couple of likeable museums around the village, and one or two modest venues for eating and drinking, the main reason to make the trip up here is to use the resort as a base for hiking along designated trails, which you can follow as part of an organized excursion from Trinidad or independently by first visiting the park’s information centre.
At the heart of Topes de Collantes is its founding building, the monstrous Sanatorio Topes de Collantes, commissioned in 1936 by Fulgencio Batista, the Cuban dictator overthrown by Fidel Castro and his rebels. Originally a huge tuberculosis clinic and once referred to as the Sanatorio General Batista, it represented Batista’s Mussolini-esque desire to leave a lasting legacy, a monument to his own power and influence. It wasn’t completed until 1957 and today operates as the Kurhotel, an anti-stress centre and hotel.
This mountainous area has its own microclimate and is always a couple of degrees cooler than Trinidad. It’s also far more likely to rain here than down by the coast, and as the heavens open almost every afternoon for much of the year, it’s a good idea to get up here early if you’re visiting on a day-trip.
During the 1980s the hotels of Topes de Collantes were filled with hundreds of artworks by Cuban artists of national renown. Scores of these are now installed in the rooms of the engaging Museo de Arte Cubano Contemporaneo, opened in 2008 on the main road through Topes de Collantes, 350m before the information centre on the approach from Trinidad. In all there are some sixty paintings by artists such as Rubén Torres Llorca, Zaida del Río and Tomás Sánchez, as well as some sculptures and prints. The pretty museum building, with its colourful stained-glass windows, dates from 1944, and was owned by a Cuban senator before the Revolution and its subsequent appropriation by the State.
Hiking at Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes
If you want to go hiking around Topes de Collantes, the best way to do so is to book an organized excursion in Trinidad. If you arrive independently you won’t be permitted access to all areas of this protected park, but at the park’s information centre you can get advice on the trails you can visit without a guide.
Typically, trails here are well marked and shady, cutting through dense woodlands, smothered in every kind of vegetation – from needle-straight conifers to bushy fern and grassy matted floors – opening out here and there for breathtaking views of the landscape.
Parque Altiplano
As well as being the location of all the local hotels, Parque Altiplano also contains the area’s most popular target for hikers, the fantastically situated 62m-high Caburní waterfall, surrounded by pines and eucalyptus trees at the end of a 2.5-km trek down steep inclines and through dense forest. Independent access is at the northernmost point of Topes de Collantes. There are several other relatively easy trails within this park, including the Vegas Grandes, which also finishes at a waterfall.
Parque Guanayara
Fifteen kilometres north of the hotels, Parque Guanayara is host to one of the area’s most scenic hiking routes. The gentler hike here follows the Guanayara River for a couple of kilometres up to the Salto El Rocío, a beautiful waterfall, and the Poza del Venado, a natural pool; along the way it incorporates some memorable views of Pico San Juan.
Parque Codina
The focal point of Parque Codina is Hacienda Codina, an old Spanish coffee-growing ranch where you can eat and drink. From the ranch there are easily manageable walks, some no more than 1km, into the forest. Several trails lead to La Batata, a subterranean river at the foot of a lush green valley where you can bathe in the cool waters of the cave. You access this area independently from the southwestern corner of Topes de Collantes.
Parque El Cubano
Just 5km from Trinidad, Parque El Cubano is the most popular location for horseriding. The route here, which can also be followed on foot, takes in a campesino house and the remains of a colonial sugar ranch, as well as rivers, brooks and waterfalls.
Sancti Spíritus
The provincial capital, also called Sancti Spíritus, sits in the dead centre of the island, 30km inland and around 70km east of Trinidad by road. There’s less to do and see here than in neighbouring provincial capitals, but it nonetheless makes a good stopover if you’re making the journey between Havana and Santiago – few visitors stay for more than a night or two, but as one of Cuba’s original seven villas founded by Diego Velázquez in the early 1500s, it has plenty of historic character and holds some appeal as one of the country’s least touristy original cities.
Top image: Church of the Holy Trinity overlooking Plaza Mayor, Trinidad, Cuba © Maurizio De Mattei/Shutterstock