Gran Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra


Comprising a sublime mountainscape of verdant peaks and humid cloud forest, and home to honest, hardworking campesinos (country folk), Gran Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra is an alluring natural sanctuary that still echoes with the gunshots of Castro's guerrilla campaign of the late 1950s. Guides are required to travel within the park.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Alto del Naranjo

2.97 MILES

All trips into the park begin at the end of the near-vertical, corrugated-concrete access road at Alto del Naranjo (after Villa Santo Domingo the road…

2. Comandancia de la Plata

2.99 MILES

Topping a crenelated mountain ridge amid thick cloud forest, this pioneering camp was established by Fidel Castro in 1958 after a year on the run in the…

3. Museo Combate de la Plata

4.46 MILES

Five kilometers west of Las Cuevas (which is 40km west of El Uvero) is this small museum at La Plata, just below the highway. The first successful…

4. Santo Domingo

4.7 MILES

This tiny village nestles in a deep green valley beside the deliciously clean Río Yara. Communally it provides a wonderful slice of peaceful Cuban…

5. Yara

20.79 MILES

A small town amid vast fields of sugarcane, Yara is barely mentioned in most travel literature, but several important chapters of Cuban history took place…

6. Criadero de Cocodrilos

25.9 MILES

The nearby Cauto River delta is home to a growing number of wild crocodiles, so it's no surprise to encounter one of Cuba's half dozen or so crocodile…

7. Museo Histórico La Demajagua

28.59 MILES

Ten kilometers south of Manzanillo is the moving sight of the sugar estate of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, whose outcry, known as Grito de Yara, and the…

8. Jardín Botánico de Cupaynicu

28.66 MILES

For a floral appreciation of Bayamo's evergreen hinterland, head to this botanic garden about 16km outside the city off the Guisa road. It's on very few…