Cascada La Escalera is one of the many natural spots in Jardin people can visit. I’m just getting to know a lot of these spots so as I visit I’ll blog about them and how to get to them! Cascada La Escalera is a waterfall, well really multiple waterfalls on a rock face. This place is gorgeous, refreshing and I wouldn’t miss it if I were you! 
The nice part of this hike is that it is on a paved road and it’s not as far as other hikes in Jardin like La Cueva del Esplendor. I was really booking it because I didn’t want to be late to teaching class but I made it down to the park in a little less than 30 minutes. I’d say an hour up walking from the park to the Cascada to be safe but you can also take a taxi up a lot of the way to avoid some of the walking.
How to get there- You start in town and go up about three blocks and turn left on calle 13 where there is a paved road with houses that drops off. You can also go up to calle 16 and take the left that merges onto the same road. After you pass the houses as you go down, you’ll pass a statue/shrine of Mary on your left hand side. You continue and you see La Argelia Restaurante, El Paraiso Hotel y Restaurante and Truchera Molina. After these various businesses and a Reserva a bit further up, there’s a long stretch of gravel/rock but easy to walk road with great views of Jardin.
The great part is it’s hard to get lost. You really just stay straight and make sure you continue going up not on side roads (that usually lead to private property). After more and more subiendo (going up/climbing) you finally see a house made of guadua bamboo (yellow, a lot of cool stuff hanging on the porhces, hammocks.) This is “Casa de Chocolate” it’s a little known spot that locals hang out at.
Casa de Chocolate
After Casa de Chocolate you continue going up then there is a sharp right turn you take up a narrow/steep road instead of staying on the bigger path that turns left. You walk up this path, cross a little stream (might not always be there but it has rained a lot lately) and finally, YOU REACH CASCADA LA ESCALERA! From here, you only enjoy! As I said in my “River Culture” post, Colombians generally go in rivers and waterfalls in t shirts and shorts, or guys shirtless. It’s funny seeing tourists walk around in swimsuits or strip down to whitey-tighties.
Can you make the pictures clickable so that I can see the full photo? That would be tight…