Barroso
Short and savage Bajos del Toro descent under a 150 m waterfall, a 100 m free hanging rappel into a permanently shadowed shaft where the wind is reported to howl at 90 km/h.
The Toros Canyoning Group put it among the best canyons in the world without hedging, and their case is the Jurassic Park views from the head plus the sheer violence of the main fall, offset against a route of under 300 linear metres that demands efficient team dynamics in strong flow. Contact them directly for current conditions. Bring a machete regardless of which approach you take; a newer line takes about two hours 26 minutes car to river, is on Wikiloc, and starts by parking at the dam gate and walking past it before turning up a steep trail on the right. Exit choice determines legality: Pozo Azul if you parked there, following the Rio Toro to the Pozo Azul waterfall and its trail. First descent 5 Jan 2020 by the Toros Canyoning Group with Pablo Ruiz de Llanza and Sebastian Vallejo.
Logistics
| Manager | Private land, with power company property on the road exit |
|---|---|
| Permit | No government permit published. The exit onto the road counts as trespassing on power company property, though tourists walk down it anyway to view the waterfalls. The Pozo Azul exit is longer but legal. This is an access legality choice, not a fee. |
| Distance | ~5 approach (8 km) plus under 0.2 of canyon (300 m linear) |
| Time | 12-20 hr typical (6 hr approach at fastest, 6 hr descent) |
| Technical | Four rappels, longest 100 m, in a canyon under 300 linear metres. Ropewiki rates v6 a5 V and publishes no ACA grade. R1 is a short 7 m off a single bolt down canyon left, worth backing up with a boulder or a meat anchor, landing at a two bolt anchor. From there the 100 m free hanging rappel drops to a ledge that can be fireman belayed. Leaving the ledge on the plumb line puts you very near the large hydraulic of the 150 m waterfall, so parties move slightly rappellers right to stay clear. A hydraulic below was historically passed by a jump, but as of January 2024 trees blocked it and parties rappelled a single bolt to enter downstream. Then a five bolt tension traverse taken as a handline, rigged through the quick links with canyon technique rather than climbing technique because the moss is slippery and a follower would take a pendulum fall. At the last station the first person down should be a strong swimmer who reaches a boulder short of the hydraulic, swims clear, and rigs a meat anchor or natural anchor guided rappel for the rest of the team. |
| Season | Jan-Apr |
| Flood risk | High and structural rather than seasonal. The 150 m main fall carries a large hydraulic that parties actively rig around, and a second hydraulic mid canyon has to be entered from downstream on rope. The first descent team reports winds funnelling through the shaft at up to 90 km/h and deafening noise. The flow itself is the hazard, so a clear forecast does not make this benign. |
| Vehicle access | Passenger car |
| Crowd | Very low. The approach is a machete bushwhack that the beta calls extremely hard to stay on track, which filters out nearly everyone. |
| Coordinates | 10.272425, -84.268341 |