La Piedra Escrita

Rio Saliente / Area Recreativa La Piedra Escrita, Jayuya, Puerto Rico

About La Piedra Escrita

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

La Piedra Escrita (“the written rock”) on its own probably marginally counts as a waterfall attraction.

However, I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt because it does feature a long and deep swimming hole with a short cascade feeding it on the Río Saliente (or Saliente River).

La_Piedra_Escrita_058_04192022 - La Piedra Escrita and adjacent cascade with swimming hole
La Piedra Escrita and adjacent cascade with swimming hole

That said, this is an important Taino (indigenous) heritage site with petroglyphs on the large namesake boulder adjacent to this cascade and swimming hole.

Accessing this place was at the end of an easy boardwalk descending from a parking lot down to the rocky slabs fringing the plunge pool next to the written rock (which can take as little as a couple of minutes).

By the way, that parking lot appeared to be for a restaurant that didn’t seem to be operational during our April 2022 visit.

I also noticed some traces of Taino petroglyphs on the slab that I stood on at the end of the trail in addition to the large boulder that had most of the petroglyphs on it.

La_Piedra_Escrita_071_04192022 - These shelters actually helped me wait out the heavy rain when I first showed up to La Piedra Escrita heritage site
These shelters actually helped me wait out the heavy rain when I first showed up to La Piedra Escrita heritage site

The boardwalk had at least three “shelters” that also acted as lookouts in addition to shielding from the rain as well as the sun.

I definitely took advantage of these shelters because it rained pretty heavily during our visit as we had to wait out the squall before proceeding.

Under such conditions, it definitely made the footing slippery (especially on the rock slabs sloping down towards La Piedra Escrita) though that didn’t stop one person from swimming here right after the storm calmed down.

What’s Up With The Petroglyphs?

As for my impressions of this place, the petroglyphs were definitely the main draw as far as I was concerned, but I was kind of left to figure this place out on my own.

La_Piedra_Escrita_035_04192022 - Zoomed in on the Taino petroglyphs atop La Piedra Escrita
Zoomed in on the Taino petroglyphs atop La Piedra Escrita

That was because from what we could tell, there was no explicit road signage indicating we were in the right place, and there was no interpretive signage explaining these petroglyphs.

In fact, there’s not a whole lot of authoritative literature about these petroglyphs other than a research paper that I chanced upon here.

I really do think that the municipality of Jayuya should consider having that cafe serve a dual purpose as both a visitor center as well as a place to eat and drink.

That way, even if no one really knows what’s going on with the petroglyphs, at least the latest interpretations and theories could be put out there to get visitors to ponder their importance and meaning.

La_Piedra_Escrita_043_04192022 - Looking towards other Taino petroglyphs facing in a different direction atop La Piedra Escrita
Looking towards other Taino petroglyphs facing in a different direction atop La Piedra Escrita

If anything, it would at least get people to better appreciate their association to the Puerto Rican heritage.

Authorities

La Piedra Escrita resides in the municipality of Jayuya, Puerto Rico. As far as I know, it is administered by the local government in Jayuya. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try to visit their website (in Spanish).

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Tagged with: taino petroglyphs, jayuya, orocovis, villalba, jayuya, pr-144, central puerto rico, central mountains, hijos del canaveral, boardwalk, swimming hole, small cascade, puerto rico



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.