Why this ride
A 272 km round trip from Portobelo - roughly 4 h 39 in the saddle. On the way it passes Colón and San Vicente. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Portobelo and Camino de Cruces Section 2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 272 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 39
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Portobelo
Columbus anchored in this bay in 1502 and called it the beautiful port, which was generous of him, because the bay is lovely and the climate is a wet, steamy furnace. Portobelo is now a sleepy village of fewer than fifteen hundred people on Panama's Caribbean coast, with the jungle pressing down from the hills and a string of grey stone forts along the shore. It is hard to believe that for a couple of centuries this was one of the richest places on earth.
Read the complete Portobelo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Portobelo is where the day begins. Next is Camino de Cruces Section 1.
2. Near Colón
West of the Panama Canal's Caribbean end, the land goes quiet surprisingly fast. You cross from the Colón side on the Atlantic Bridge, the long cable-stayed span that finally replaced the old swing bridge and the ferry over the canal entrance, and within minutes the container cranes give way to rainforest, old American base buildings and a narrow road heading north toward the mouth of the Chagres River.
Read the complete Near Colón write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Camino de Cruces Section 1 comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is Camino de Cruces Section 2.
3. Near San Vicente
North of Panama City, the Transístmica highway climbs out of the sprawl toward the Caribbean, following the old route across the isthmus.
Read the complete Near San Vicente write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 128 km into the recorded legs you reach Camino de Cruces Section 2. Next is back through Camino de Cruces Section 1.
4. Near Colón
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Near Colón write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Camino de Cruces Section 1, late in the day. Next is Portobelo.
5. Portobelo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Portobelo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Portobelo. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Portobelo to Near Colón
Portobelo → Near Colón is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.