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The Inter-American highway winds its way through Costa Rica, it traverses a wide variety of landscapes. From less than 300 feet above sea level at the Nicaraguan border, to 11,500 feet on the slopes of the Talamanca Mountain Range, and back down again to below 200 feet, it presents the traveler with a look at several of the many ecosystems in the country. Perhaps the most dramatic stretch runs from Cartago, in the Central Valley, to San Isidro de El General, as it rises from about 5,000 feet through its highest point in Costa Rica at a spot called Cerro de la Muerte . As you wind around Cerro de la Muerte on the Interamerican Highway, you will see the lush vegetation become stunted and then diminish. The turn off for San Gerardo de Dota is on Kilometer 80, driving for 9 kilometers down on a well maintained gravel road you reach this narrow, pristine mountain valley at 2200 meters of altitude (7220 ft). San Gerardo de Dota has become a paradise for birdwatchers, hikers, and trout fishers.
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