This petroglyph site alongside a stream just outside town features a swirl of moons, snakes and dancers 3m long and 2m high carved into rocks. The site is just about signposted, but it's well worth hiring a guide at the museum to learn more about the site. Do take care at this isolated spot though and ideally don't go alone.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
14.95 MILES
A steep yet worthwhile hour’s hike from the cemetery and embedded in a boulder-crusted ridge is the town cross, originally placed here in 1703 by…
23.55 MILES
Be sure to stop by this moving gallery devoted to fallen revolutionaries, with displays of faded photos, clothes and weaponry. Check out the exhibit (with…
Casa Museo Comandante Carlos Fonseca
10.96 MILES
Commander Carlos Fonseca, the Sandinista equivalent of Malcolm X (read: bespectacled, goateed, intense, highly charismatic), grew up desperately poor in…
13.75 MILES
If you’re looking for comfort with your virgin cloud forest experience, then Selva Negra – part family resort, part coffee farm and part rainforest…
Templo Parroquial de San Rafael Arcángel
22.67 MILES
Beginning in 1955, the revered Father Odorico D’Andrea turned this antiquated cathedral into a labor of divine love. It’s impeccably restored, with a…
26.08 MILES
This destination for wildlife lovers is where you’ll find the best remaining patch of virgin cloud forest (although deforestation is a serious issue),…
20.45 MILES
Artist and naturalist Alberto Gutiérrez is, some might say, a bit of a hermit – but a welcoming one who loves showing off his orchid-studded property,…
26.56 MILES
Surrounded by ethereal cloud forest, La Bujona is a wide wall of water that crashes over the rock face in various streams. It feels far from civilization…
Nearby Northern Highlands attractions
1. Museo Precolombino de Chagüitillo
0.3 MILES
This worthwhile little museum has two rooms of Chorotegan pottery and an exhibit on local hero Domingo Sánchez Salgado (aka Chagüitillo), one of the…
0.65 MILES
This archaeological site up on a hill outside town features more than 60 zoomorphic petroglyphs, including many depicting deer. The path is not at all…
10.28 MILES
Graveyard fans should check out both the Foreigners Cemetery (and nearby National Cemetery) on the eastern edge of town, where you'll find great views and…
10.95 MILES
Originally constructed in 1751 and used as a jail for indigenous rebels in the late 1800s, this church was rebuilt in 1917 by Franciscan friars. The…
5. Casa Museo Comandante Carlos Fonseca
10.96 MILES
Commander Carlos Fonseca, the Sandinista equivalent of Malcolm X (read: bespectacled, goateed, intense, highly charismatic), grew up desperately poor in…
11.08 MILES
This absorbing museum features large, glossy, printed displays in Spanish and English on the roots of modern coffee production in the region, as well as…
11.11 MILES
The 1751 Iglesia Molagüina, in the center of town, is the plainest of Matagalpa's churches, but has nice gardens.
11.14 MILES
Built in 1874, Matagalpa's glorious, whitewashed neoclassical cathedral is flooded with light. Inside the sanctuary are a natural wood altar, gorgeous…