Sierra

About Sierra:

Sierra covers 112 square kilometres of the upper Abangares watershed, with Tilarán to the north, Cañas to the west, Monteverde to the east and the districts of Las Juntas and San Juan below it. Route 145 leaves Las Juntas, the canton seat, and climbs through the district toward the junction with Route 606 for Monteverde. The first stretch is flat and paved; past it the road narrows into tight bends and a long, steep pull, and a creek has flooded the bridge at El Dólar, four kilometres out of Las Juntas. When the bridge at Sardinal sank in 2025 and cut the usual road into Monteverde, this climb became one of the ways in. Fifteen villages share the district, among them La Sierra, Aguas Claras, Tres Amigos, Candelaria, San Rafael, Alto Cebadilla, Cuesta Yugo, Dos de Abangares, Marsellesa, Tornos, Cañitas and Campos de Oro.

The name comes from saws: the first outsiders to settle here found the place full of them, cutting timber from the surrounding forest. Gold changed everything. It was found in Abangares in 1884, and from 1902 Minor C. Keith’s Abangares Gold Fields of Costa Rica worked these hills with more than 3,500 people on the payroll. Managers and senior staff lived in La Sierra; the workers were kept out and settled downhill, which is how Las Juntas grew. What the company left behind is now the Ecomuseo de las Minas de Abangares, 38 hectares of municipal land holding the foundations of the Los Mazos stamp mill, the powder house and the tunnel used by the locomotive Tulita, declared architectural heritage in 2001.

Mining never really stopped. Several hundred coligalleros, independent small-scale gold miners, still dig around La Sierra and Las Juntas, and the whole canton has been a state mining reserve since 2010, where only cooperatives can hold concessions. Above the village, the steep slopes between 200 and 1,100 metres belong to the Zona Protectora Cuenca del Río Abangares, more than 4,300 hectares of premontane forest protected since 1995 because its streams form the river and supply Las Juntas with water. Hot water rises from the ground near La Sierra: Pueblo Antiguo Lodge is built around thermal pools, and some neighbouring farms have springs of their own.

The climb changes how land works. The lower district is Guanacaste cattle and dry-forest country, while the ridges toward Monteverde turn to wet forest, so a house at 1,000 metres needs roofs, gutters and drainage made for heavy rain. Drive any farm access in the rainy season before you agree a price. Sierra had about 2,350 residents in 2011, spread thinly across its villages. In the uplands, small coffee and vegetable growers in San Rafael, Alto Cebadilla, Campos de Oro, Cañitas, La Cruz and Tornos sell through cooperatives, and in Cañitas a group of 21 farming families grows, roasts and shows visitors its own coffee. Buyers are mostly families from the canton looking for land, people after a farm with a creek or a spring, and Monteverde regulars who want a cabin on its western slope.

Houses in Sierra:

Houses here are village homes on big plots, with room for fruit trees, a carport or a workshop. In San Rafael, for example, a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house of 90 m² stands on a lot of 1,437 m² with a covered carport. Higher up, small cabins on plots of around 3,000 m² in the rainforest are sold as weekend retreats. Ask where the water comes from, a community system or a spring on the land, and get the answer in writing before you sign.

Land and Lots in Sierra:

Lots run from village plots in La Sierra and San Rafael to parcels of one or two hectares near the valley floor. Some of that lower ground is mostly flat, but most of Sierra is steep, and a parcel that looks generous on a plan can hold only a small shelf you can build on. Streams cut across much of the slope, so ask the municipality for the land-use certificate and the river setbacks before you design anything. Ground that was worked for gold can hide old tunnels: walk the land with a neighbour who knows its history, and have an engineer look at anything near an old working.

Fincas in Sierra:

Farms are the core of the market. Offers range from a property of a little over three hectares at Tres Amigos to agricultural land around La Sierra and farms with river frontage. In the highlands the land is coffee and vegetables, worked by families who sell through cooperatives, while the lower farms lean toward cattle. Before planning a use, find out whether any part of the finca lies inside the Zona Protectora or within a mining concession, since either one shapes what you can do on it.

Hot-Spring Properties in Sierra:

Thermal water is what sets La Sierra apart from the rest of Abangares. One farm of about two hectares next to Pueblo Antiguo Lodge has hot springs, a pond and an old stone wall along its front, on land mined in the early 1900s. Another plot of about a hectare and a half with thermal water lies 200 metres west of the ecomuseum. Either could carry a small lodge, a spa or a private retreat, but running a business on spring water needs a water concession from MINAE, so budget time for it alongside the build.

FAQ:

• How do I get to Sierra from the Interamericana?

  Turn off Route 1 for Las Juntas and keep going on Route 145, which runs uphill through the district. The first section is flat and paved, then the road gets narrower and steeper as it climbs toward the Route 606 junction for Monteverde. Landslides and a flooding creek near the El Dólar bridge have closed it at times in the rainy season.

• Does the mining reserve affect what I can buy in Sierra?

  It can. All of Abangares has been a state mining reserve since 2010, concessions go to small-miner cooperatives, and some private farms sit inside concession areas. Check the title and cadastral plan at the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario), then ask the Dirección de Geología y Minas whether a concession or an application covers the parcel before you pay a deposit.

• Can I build on land near the Zona Protectora?

  Land inside the protected zone carries limits on clearing and building, and its boundary runs through the steep ground above La Sierra. Have the parcel located against the zone map and ask SINAC what the management plan allows there. Outside the zone, the municipal land-use certificate and the setbacks from streams decide where a house can go.

• Is there really hot spring water on private land?

  Yes, around La Sierra, where thermal water feeds the pools at Pueblo Antiguo Lodge and rises on neighbouring farms. Using it for a business needs a water concession from MINAE. Ask the seller whether one already exists before you count on the springs for income.

• Is gold still mined around Sierra?

  Yes. Coligalleros organised in cooperatives still work around La Sierra and Las Juntas, and Congress keeps revisiting the legal terms of their work. Blasting can be heard on some days. If quiet matters to you, visit on a weekday and ask the neighbours where the nearest working is.