The ''Ruta Panorámica'' (
Scenic Route
A scenic route, tourist road, tourist drive, scenic byway, or holiday road is a specially designated road or waterway that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty. It often passes by scenic viewpoints. The designation is usually de ...
), officially the ''Ruta Panorámica Luis Muñoz MarÃn'' (Luis Muñoz MarÃn Scenic Route), is a network of some 40 secondary roads which traverse the island of
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
from west to east along its (Central Mountain Range).
Most of the route consists of three roads,
PR-105,
PR-143, and
PR-182.
The route starts in
Mayagüez and ends in
Maunabo. The first major segment of the route runs from Mayagüez to
Maricao as Route 105, then from
Adjuntas
Adjuntas () is a small mountainside Adjuntas barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico located in the central midwestern portion of the island on the Cordillera Central, Puerto Rico, Cordillera Central, no ...
to
Aibonito as Route 143, and then follows Route 182 toward Maunabo.
Route description
As the Route is a two-way road, it can be traveled starting at either its western or its eastern termini. To travel the Route in a westerly direction (i.e., from Maunabo to Mayagüez), the course of the road is reversed from what is given here. Starting from Mayagüez and ending in Maunabo, as of August 2010, the course of the Route is as follows:
Municipality of
Mayagüez (Eastbound)
PR-339 Municipality of Mayagüez (Eastbound)
PR-119 Municipality of Mayagüez (Northbound)
PR-106 Municipality of Mayagüez (Eastbound)
PR-106 Municipality of
Las Marias (Eastbound)
PR-120 Municipality of Las Marias (Southbound)
PR-120 Municipality of
Maricao (Southbound)
PR-120 Municipalities of Maricao and
San Germán (Eastbound)
PR-120 Municipalities of Maricao and
Sabana Grande (Eastbound)
:''Landmark:
Maricao State Forest, site of Monte del Estado''
PR-366 Municipalities of Maricao and Sabana Grande (Eastbound)
PR-365 Municipalities of Maricao and
Yauco (Eastbound)
PR-105 Municipalities of Maricao and Yauco (Eastbound)
PR-128 Municipality of Maricao (Northbound)
PR-128 Municipality of
Lares
Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ) were Tutelary deity#Ancient Rome, guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an ama ...
(Northbound)
PR-135 Municipality of
Lares
Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ) were Tutelary deity#Ancient Rome, guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an ama ...
(Eastbound)
PR-135 Municipality of
Adjuntas
Adjuntas () is a small mountainside Adjuntas barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico located in the central midwestern portion of the island on the Cordillera Central, Puerto Rico, Cordillera Central, no ...
(Eastbound)
:''Landmark:
Lago Guayo''
Municipality of Adjuntas (Eastbound)
PR-518 Municipality of Adjuntas (Eastbound)
:''Landmark:
Lago Garzas''
Municipality of Adjuntas (Southbound)
PR-143 Municipality of Adjuntas (Eastbound)
PR-143 Municipality of
Ponce (Eastbound)
:''Landmark:
Toro Negro State Forest
Toro Negro State Forest (Spanish: ''Bosque Estatal de Toro Negro'') is one of the 21 forests that make up the public forests system in Puerto Rico. It is also Puerto Rico's highest cloud forest. It is in the Cordillera Central, Puerto Rico, Cord ...
''
PR-143 Municipality of
Jayuya (Eastbound)
PR-143 Municipality of Ponce (Eastbound)
PR-143 Municipality of
Villalba (Eastbound)
:''Landmark:
Salto de Doña Juana Waterfall (2 miles)''
:''Landmark:
Villalba Overlook''
PR-143 Municipality of
Orocovis (Eastbound)
PR-143 Municipality of
Coamo (Eastbound)
PR-143 Municipality of
Barranquitas (Eastbound)
PR-723 Municipality of Barranquitas (Southbound)
PR-7718 Municipality of
Aibonito (Eastbound)
:''Landmark:
Piedra Degetau Overlook''
PR-7722 Municipality of
Cayey (Eastbound)
PR-1 Municipality of Cayey (Eastbound)
PR-715 Municipality of Cayey (Southbound)
PR-7737 Municipality of Cayey (Eastbound)
PR-741 Municipality of Cayey (Eastbound)
PR-7741 Municipality of Cayey (Eastbound)
PR-742 Municipality of Cayey (Eastbound)
PR-179 Municipality of Cayey (Northbound)
PR-184 Municipality of Cayey (Southbound)
:''Landmark:
Carite State Forest,
Guavate''
PR-7740 Municipalities of
San Lorenzo and
Patillas (Eastbound)
PR-181 Municipality of San Lorenzo (Southbound)
PR-182 Municipality of
Yabucoa (Eastbound)
PR-901 Municipality of Yabucoa (Eastbound)
PR-3 Municipality of Yabucoa (Southbound)
PR-3 Municipality of
Maunabo (Southbound)
History
Early in the 1970s, the
Autoridad de Carreteras de Puerto Rico (''Puerto Rico Roads Authority'') developed a route along the Cordillera Central. The route was finished in 1974. According to the original plans, the route started at Cerro Las Mesas in
Mayagüez, ran along the full length of the central mountains, including along parts of the length of the
Sierra de Cayey
The Sierra de Cayey ( English: "Cayey Mountains") is one of three subranges of the Cordillera Central mountain range in the main island of Puerto Rico. It is demarcated from the eponymous main subrange of ''Cordillera Central'' by the San Cristà ...
to end at Cuchilla de Pandura, in
Yabucoa. The development of the route included the building of
overlook
A scenic viewpoint—also called an observation point, viewpoint, viewing point, vista point, scenic overlook,These terms are more commonly used in North America. etc.—is an elevated location where people can view scenery (often with binocul ...
s, rest areas, and recreational facilities at a cost of $4
million
1,000,000 (one million), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the ...
. In 1975, it was estimated that the cost of the necessary facilities to complete the Route - but excluding roads already built - amounted to $20 million.
[Original length and completion year. Originally published by ''Primera Hora'' on March 13, 2006.](_blank)
Retrieved March 16, 2010. National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
has called the route "an assemblage of 40-plus roads that cuts through the island's lush Cordillera Central."
Major intersections
Note: kilometer markers represent the distance along the numbered highways rather than the Ruta Panorámica.
See also
*
List of highways in Ponce, Puerto Rico
This is a list of highways in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The list focuses on major, signed, roads in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico.Carretera Central (Puerto Rico)
The is a historic north–south central highway in Puerto Rico, linking the cities of San Juan and Ponce by way of RÃo Piedras, Caguas, Cayey, Aibonito, Coamo, and Juana DÃaz. It crosses the Cordillera Central. Plans for the road start ...
*
Luis Muñoz MarÃn
José Luis Alberto Muñoz MarÃn (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth."
In 1948 he ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruta Panoramica
Highways in Puerto Rico