From: El Llano, Panama Length 30 km | To: Cartí, Panama | |
The 30-kilometer road between El Llano and Cartí, Panama provides the only land access to the Kuna Yala area. It was completed in 2009. The unpaved road is in poor condition, described in one travel guide as "more like a wide trail". It is generally drivable only in a high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle, and is sometimes impassable in the rainy season. The road has nonetheless encouraged encroachment onto Kuna land in Kuna Yala. The road runs through a 100,000-hectare forest reserve called Área Silvestre de Narganá, which contains an abandoned Kuna ecolodge and borders the Burbayar Lodge ecolodge. Some hikers hike the length of the road, often staying at Burbayar Lodge en route.
Latest update: The road has been fully paved with asphalt and is usable all year round. Some inclines are very steep for which a four-wheel drive vehicle is recommended.