Thanks to Monteverde’s location on the Tilaran Mountain Range, there are many great places to see the sunset from Santa Elena and the surrounding neighborhoods. A couple of easily accessible and free ones are right in Santa Elena, such as Mirador San Luis and Mirador Valle Escondido Preserve, but there is one particular spot that we found to be one of the best, if not the best, sunset spot in Monteverde.
If you have a 4×4 or love hiking, then a visit to the local favorite Cerro Pinocho should be on your itinerary! This is one of the best cheap things to do in Monteverde.
Here is our guide to Cerro Pinocho.
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Location
On Google Maps, you can find it under “Cerro Pinocho.” Waze works well too. It is about a 30 minute drive from downtown Santa Elena.
How to Get There by Car
You need a 4×4 to get to Cerro Pinocho. Especially in the rainy season, which is May to November, a 4×4 is required as Monteverde tends to rain more.
If you are visiting in the drier months such as January, February, March and April, a high clearance SUV can work but a 4×4 will provide the most comfort and safety, especially since you have to drive back in the dark with no road lights.
Get our Costa Rica car rental discount and extra benefits here!
Once you turn out of Santa Elena, the road is unpaved, hilly and has pot holes. But the views going up are amazing! Make sure to bring your camera.
Generally for Monteverde, if you want to explore outside the main tourism hub of Santa Elena, a high clearance car is required and then if you want to go explore more rural areas, like Cerro Pinocho, a 4×4 is required. Read more about Costa Rica weather here.
Hiking
I have read that some people walked to Cerro Pinocho. It is about a 1.5 hour walk one way from downtown Santa Elena and you need to be in decent shape.
However, the only thing is to get back to your hotel, you will need to ask the owner to help you call a taxi because there are no taxis, no Ubers around in that area.
You should not walk back to your hotel after sunset either, you need to get a ride.
Parking
They have their own parking lot, free of charge. From Santa Elena, it is on your left hand side and you can’t miss it.
There is a sign for Cerro Pinocho and a parking lot that can fit around 10 cars or so.
Cerro Pinocho
This is a private property and farm owned by a Monteverde local. Don Gerardo realized he had a really nice view of the sunset on his property and decided to create some easy trails for visitors to come and enjoy his amazing place.
Hours and Fee
The entrance fee is 1000 CRC per person and open everyday from 3-7 PM.
Once you pull up, the owner should come out and greet you. If he’s not there, you can call 8778 3419 or 8415 4725.
Sometimes he will offer a cup of coffee for an extra fee as they have a small rancho. But normally, they don’t offer food or drink.
They used to be able to offer picnics with reservations but as it’s just him who maintains the property now, they don’t really offer it anymore.
Cerro Pinocho Viewpoint
Don Gerardo made a really nice easy to walk trail that goes up to the top of the hill. It’s like a 5 minute walk, all on grass. I wore my flip flops and had no problem walking up there as it’s well maintained.
No rocks, tree branches, bugs or loose rocks on the trail. Make sure when you follow the path with the lights.
He made this very nice open space on the hill and put benches throughout the trail.
Although when we visited, there were only two other people at the same time, I can imagine in high season or holidays like Christmas, New Years and Holy Week, it can get really crowded as its a popular local spot.
The other two ladies who joined us were locals, going up there to watch the sunset for a girls catch up date. No other tourists were there when we visited mid December.
From the parking lot to the top, it’s a ten minute walk max. It does have incline going up the hill so you do need to be able to walk uphill and downhill.
The trail has switchbacks, so it’s more of a gradual incline, instead of a straight uphill walk which is nice.
Although we knew the WOW view as going to be on the very top, we couldn’t help but take hundreds of photos on our way up. The view already was amazing!
We got there around 4 PM which was perfect time to see the sunset. Remember, the sun starts setting around 515 PM, 530 PM and by 6 PM, the sun is gone and this is everyday in Costa Rica.
Cerro Pinocho Sunset Photos
Monteverde is not just known for the cloud forest reserve, but it’s also locally known as the town of rainbows because of the weather.
Since even in dry season, Monteverde can have light drizzles and sprinkles, rainbows are very common. We saw some of the most incredible double rainbows and full rainbows when we got to the top!
Below are the photos we took during the sunset at Cerro Pinocho. I’m a huge sunset lover and a sunset chaser and this was, by far, hands down one of the most amazing sunset experiences I’ve had in Costa Rica.
On one side, we saw full rainbows over the town of Santa Elena and the other side, we saw a beautiful sun going down over the Gulf of Nicoya.
Cerro Pinocho is just one of the many hills in the Tilaran Mountain Range. You can also see Cerro Pelado, another hill with amazing views on one side, small rural houses tucked into valleys and rolling hills with horses and cows.
It can get super windy up there so wear warm clothes. Feel free to bring your own food and drinks for your own picnic.
Since we had driven to Monteverde from San Jose earlier that day, watching the sunset at Cerro Pinocho was a great way to end the day. We stayed for 2 hours total (4-6 PM but it’s only open 3-7 PM).
Monteverde Itinerary Ideas
If you have just 2 days in Monteverde, here’s a sample itinerary.
Full day 1: Go ziplining and walk the hanging bridges at one of the adventure parks like Treetopia, Selvatura Park or 100% Aventura.
If you want to make the most of your day, opt for the All Day Pass at Selvatura Park (ziplining, hanging bridges, sloth sanctuary, butterfly garden and reptile exhibit). This is a full day. Get lunch at Selvatura Park.
Then if you finish around 3 PM, drive to Cerro Pinocho to watch the sunset. After sunset, head to town to have dinner at Restaurante Sabor Tico.
Full day 2: Either go birdwatching at Curi Cancha Reserve in the early morning or hike El Tigre Waterfalls. Have lunch at Stella’s. Do a Monteverde night walk in the evening and have dinner at Tramonti or Taco Taco after.
If you are interested in booking any tours in Monteverde like a night walk, birdwatching or horseback riding, check out our Monteverde booking page!
We also offer discounts for some hotels in the area. Enter the promo code “mytanfeet” on the booking page for Monteverde Country Lodge, Hotel Poco a Poco and Sibu Lodge and save 5%!
Sample Itineraries with Monteverde
We have a ton of sample Costa Rica itineraries with Monteverde included. Click the link to check them out!
Costa Rica Vacation Checklist
- First time to Costa Rica? Read our First Time in Costa Rica guide.
- Not sure how to move around Costa Rica? Read our How to Get Around Costa Rica guide to find the best transportation method for you.
- Click the link to get our detailed Costa Rica Packing List so you know what essential items to bring.
- Check our Costa Rica destinations map and Costa Rica restaurant map
- Do not forget to purchase Travel Insurance for your trip to Costa Rica.
- Stay connected by purchasing a prepaid SIM Card in Costa Rica
- Save money with Mytanfeet Deals for tours and hotels and our Costa Rica Car Rental Discount.
Anna says
Hi! Very nice and helpful blog. We are planning our trip to Monteverde and definitely want to visit Cerro Pinocho. I only have doubts if it is safe to drive back to Santa Elena in the darkness after the sunset? What is the return way like? Do you have any specific advice to the drivers? Thank you!
Sammi says
It is doable but drive really slow. The road back in the dark can be scarier because there are no road lights up there and the unpaved portion is hilly with holes and no side guardrails. Use high beams (safely) and go very slow. Once you get back onto the paved section, it’s fine.
Mike says
Definitely require an SUV with 4X4 drive for the cherro Pinocho viewpoint!
We attempted this yesterday in our SUV and unfortunately had to abandon the car about 1.5km from the top and hike up the rest.
We had used Google maps and the roads there turned quite difficult at times, very slippy and your car may skid a bit, and lots of potholes etc. – go very slow on the way back! It’s pitch black and difficult to see all the dips and holes in the road, even with full beams on.
We think there was a better route than the one Google maps took us on, as there were a couple of cars at the top which definitely won’t have been able to come up the same way we attempted.
The views are incredible and the sunset was gorgeous – absolutely worth the effort!
Sammi says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Mary Mullany says
Have been to Costa Rica several times ,…and loved it every time .Will be back !
Found your information helpful.