la piedra pintada

We went with two kids (10 and 6) to do this easy hike. It is a short walk to the top (about 40 minutes) and you can stop to refresh in small waterfalls but the conditions of the trail are really bad. There is trash everywhere and absolutely no signs so we ended climbing into a couple of dead ends. If you have time do the hike, if you are curious and just want to "check the box" you can stop at the beginning of the trail just after seeing the petroglyphs.

intersting and quite a walk; you should go for it is something different to do while at San Anton Valley

The petrogryps were of the worst I have seen, and the hike is paved... Saw some rubish along the way.. So why paying 2,5usd then? It gets steepy after the piedra pintada so wear comf shoes

I laught when I saw someone call this a tourist trap,it was $2.25 to get in and we passed a house that had a cardboard sigh in Spanish that said they sold gatorade and water! It was an awesome hike throught the forest following a small river(it is the dry season) with waterfalls.the petroglyphs were great,if you want to do the whole hike it takes 3 and a half hrs.We passed locals that live up in the mountain on their way to school and shops travelling the trail.Stopping to watch tadpoles in the small still pools was cool,and watching the butterflies flitting through the trees was lovely.The hike after the petroglyphs is a workout so be in decent shape and bring water...or buy it at tourist trap house/shack LOL

Fascinating and up close petroglyphs. Somewhat of a lengthy walk, but well worth the time. Geourgious scenery.

The petroglyphs were cool, but there is no history provided to explain where they came from. There are stalls along the path to get to the rock. It is definitely a tourist trap.

The rock is in sorry shape--no attempt to preserve these petroglyphs. What's more entertaining is paying a kid to "protect" your car and then having his friend play history teacher at the rock. If you have a light heart and don't take any of this too seriously, it's a bit of entertainment. Can go further for a hike but the trails are not marked.

Even if such stones are rare, and it might be interesting to have a look at it... the trail is poorly indicated, and I even walked by without noticing the "drawings"... somehow overrated, but if you're in the area, another small nice walk

There's a kid there (not sure if there are more than one) and his self-appointed job is to translate the pictographs for you. In Spanish. Our Spanish is next to non-existent but we still loved this little dude! He tells you about the mountains and waterfalls and a bunch of other stuff we didn't follow but he is so entertaining and works so hard to impress you that it is worth the quarter he expects at the end of his history lesson to you. We gave him a dollar. Note: learn how to say "We already paid your friend" in Spanish as this will come in handy when kids try to get you to pay them a quarter for watching your car when you get back, even though you already paid other kids to watch your car when you parked.

It was nice to see, but not spectacular. You can ask some children to explain the drawings, but we didn't.

Its a pity that they defaced a national treasure.. in an attempt to make them more visable, they painted over the petroglyphs.. on the other hand, we went near sun down and seeing the fire flies almost made up for it..

Forget the guide, apparently the kids make up stuff and have painted/used chalk on the lines of the heiroglyphs anyways. Get someone to translate this: http://www.elvalle.com.pa/atracciones/la-piedra-pintada/

If you are in El Valle, you certainly have to go visit the Piedra Pintada prehistorical site.It is a short drive by car to the entry of the site.The way up is well maintained and easy accessible. You follow a wild water river and after going over a small bridge you will see a rock with carvings on it. Some of them are painted. The carvings are very abstract for us, a bit of an explanation of what we see would have been great.You can go further up, but the path becomes difficult to hike on.We went up to a small waterfall. Now the path becomes very steep. Our young guide told us you can have a beautifull sight on la India Dormida further up, but since it started raining we decided to stop here and to go back to the car.I heard the local community is taking care of the site: they do a fine job. So don't forget to use one of the young guides to show you the way. You can find the rock with your eyes closed, but simply take the guide and give him some balboa's. These people can use the extra dollar!

It needs some signage and explanation but is a nice walk up to a small waterfall.

If you're into this its very interesting and it is the beginning of the hike to the Sleeping Indian which is a very good hike.