The Mountain Pine Ridge

The Mountain Pine Ridge is a plateau of ancient granite in western Belize, and because the soil over it is thin and acid the forest is Caribbean pine rather than jungle, which makes it look startlingly unlike the rest of the country. Rivers cut into the granite and drop off it: the Thousand Foot Falls, actually closer to five hundred metres and often called the highest in Central America, plunges off the escarpment into an inaccessible valley, and the Rio On Pools are a series of granite basins and slides where the river runs over bare rock. Rio Frio Cave is a huge river tunnel through a hill, walked straight through.

What you actually see

• Thousand Foot Falls - often called Central America's highest, seen from a viewpoint across the valley.
• The Rio On Pools - granite basins and natural slides in the river.
• Rio Frio Cave - a vast river tunnel walked through from end to end.
• The pine forest - Caribbean pine on granite, unlike the rest of Belize.

When to go

December to April is the dry season and the roads passable; after heavy rain the dirt roads become difficult and creek crossings rise. Falls are fullest in the wet season but the roads are worst then. A four-wheel drive is effectively required.

Honest expectations

The roads are rough, slow and require four-wheel drive; distances take far longer than they look. Thousand Foot Falls is viewed from a distant platform and cannot be approached. A pine beetle outbreak in the early 2000s killed a large share of the forest and the regrowth is young. Facilities are almost non-existent.

Nearby

Caracol is beyond the ridge; San Ignacio is an hour and a half north.