Arenal 1968 offers some of the best volcano views in La Fortuna. Unfortunately for us, cloud was obscuring quite a bit of Arenal on our visit, but luckily there’s a lot to love about the hike itself. You’ll traverse the old lava flow, and if you do the longer trail, spend significant time wandering the rainforest, which has proper jungle vibes.
The good news is that most people don’t complete the full circuit and instead wander to the viewpoint and back, this makes the forest section wonderfully serene. A far cry from nearby Arenal National Park. The downside to Arenal 1968 is the very hefty price tag. At $25 USD for a self guided hike, it’s a bit steep (no pun intended), so we’ll cover whether we thought it was worth it, as well as cheaper alternatives at the end of this post.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Arenal 1968.
The Arenal 1968 walk
The stats
Distance: 5.4km loop
Elevation gain: 210m
Difficulty: Moderate
We completed the full circuit at Arenal 1968, this includes the yellow track (Lava Trail) and the red track (Los Patos Trail).
If you only want to do the shorter walk to the viewpoint, you will take the Lava Trail and then loop back. If you do the Los Patos Track, you will walk all but a tiny portion of the Lava Trail, and in our opinion, it’s both better value and prettier.
The path is very well maintained on the Lava Trail, and slightly rougher on the Los Patos Track. However, any slippery bits on the Los Patos Track were few and far between and had handrails in place. You will have rocks and tree roots to walk over, but I wouldn’t say it’s too challenging.
Both trails have a bit of climbing to do, but never any very steep sections.
Starting the trail
The official trail begins 150m from the car park and it’s well signposted. You’ll start by walking on a gravel path beside the forest and if Arenal is out from under the cloud, you will already have views. The track is flat, or ever so gently uphill.
After 300m along the gravel path you’ll turn into the forest. It’s a lovely little patch of rainforest, but it doesn’t last long before you hit the tall grass.
I am pretty sure this is the tallest grass I have ever seen in my life. It makes you feel like you’ve suddenly shrunk!
There are some gentle undulations, and the path is uneven, but generally in very good condition.
Once you’ve been walking for 1km, the track starts to open up and you’ll soon begin heading up the old lava flow.
Hiking up the old lava flow to the viewpoint
Walking on the lava flow was one of my favourite parts of the trail. It definitely makes you feel like you’re close to a volcano, whether or not you’re lucky enough to actually see it!
The track is now mainly uphill, but there are little flat bits, and it’s never overly steep.
The rock is very grippy, so although it’s uneven, it’s not difficult. After roughly 650m climbing up the old lava trail, you will reach the main viewpoint.
If the weather is in your favour you will get a fabulous view of Arenal. For us it was semi shrouded in cloud, but it was lucky we arrived when we did, as less than 15 minutes later the volcano had disappeared entirely.
There is plenty of forest between you and Arenal, but it still has a sense of majesty.
On the other side of the viewpoint you can see Lake Arenal in the distance. The viewpoint is large, so there’s plenty of room to sit and enjoy the view, or wait in hope the volcano will appear!
Onto the Los Patos Trail
From the viewpoint you have a brief flat section and will then begin gently descending. You’ll come to a junction after 500m, and this is where the Lava Trail and the Los Patos Trail diverge.
It’s signposted and you’ll head right to continue the full circuit. It’s from here that the track gets a bit rougher.
The descent becomes less gradual and there are a few steep sections. One or two have small bits of loose rock and were a touch slippery.
There was a rope handrail in place at the steepest bit, which were definitely helpful - and it only lasts for 70m.
At the end of this rocky descent you’ll enter the rainforest. This was our third walk in the Arenal area, but this forest felt quite different to the ones we’d walked through on other trails.
It’s hard to describe, but it felt lovely and jungly, and it was a highlight of the walk for me.
Through the rainforest
There’s a little more rocky track to go as you make your way through the moss covered forest. Although we never saw any animals, we could hear things crashing around somewhere in the foliage, and it was very atmospheric.
We couldn’t believe that after leaving the viewpoint, we never saw another soul on the entire walk.
As you wander through the jungle there are little ups and downs, either on stairs or a dirt track. There are even a few extra bits of old lava flow, which felt a bit unique as they weren’t exposed like the other section, but instead in the depths of the forest.
After 450m in the forest you’ll come to the first view of Lago Los Patos. It’s a pretty green lake and you’ll see it from several different angles as you make your way along the track.
We’ve seen pictures where you can even see the volcano mirrored in the water on a clear still day. Sadly we never saw Arenal again, but hopefully you get luckier!
Finishing the circuit
You keep following the lake for around 800m, never at the water’s edge, but you can often see it glistening between the trees.
The track gently undulates, but as it turns away from the lake it does have a downhill section and then a steepish climb up through the forest. It doesn’t last that long though and the terrain is good.
Roughly 4.7km into the walk, the trails converge again and you’ll head gently uphill on a gravel track. It steepens just before you reach the cafe, 450m from the junction. This is where you’ll get another great volcano view if you’re visiting on a clear day.
The cafe looked good and obviously has terrific views, but we sadly didn’t have time to try it.
From the cafe, it’s just 200m to the car park and it’s all downhill. All in all, it’s a great, if very expensive, hike.
Is the Arenal 1968 hike worth it?
When we visited an adult ticket for the self guided walk was $25 USD. Personally, I think this is really expensive, especially if you only plan on doing the Lava Trail to the viewpoint and back to the car park. It feels particularly poor value when compared to Mirador El Silencio, which has an even better view, and was significantly cheaper at 5,000 colones (approx $9 USD). I do think that if you only want to do one Arenal walk, you are better off doing Mirador El Silencio than Arenal 1968.
It’s not that it’s not a good walk, or that the volcano view isn’t great, it’s just that it’s so much more expensive than the alternatives. We also walked the circuit in the Arenal National Park, and this was USD $17.
I am not really sure why Arenal 1968 charges more, but I guess they get away with it as so many people still pay it, ourselves included of course! One thing I would say is make sure you can see Arenal Volcano before doing this walk, if it’s fully in the cloud, then it’s 100% not worth doing the hike considering the cost involved.
If you’re not worried about budget and you want to walk a couple of trails, I’d recommend Mirador El Silencio and Arenal 1968 over the national park.
Facilities at Arenal 1968
Arenal 1968 has flush toilets and even showers available. There is also a cafe with a great view. The car park is large and included in the entry fee.
Opening hours and entry fees
At time of writing Arenal 1968 is open daily between 8am and 5pm, with last entry at 4pm. It’s worth double checking on their website before visiting, as we found both open and close times seemed to often differ from those written online.
The entry fee is USD $25. However, I noticed when reading some reviews that the cost had been steadily increasing every few months or so, so who knows how long it remains at this price!
Getting to Arenal 1968
Arenal 1968 is located 16km and roughly a 20 minute drive from La Fortuna. The road is paved the whole way. It’s 150km from San Jose. If you don’t have a car you can take a shuttle bus or taxi.
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