This region, protected as an area of 'managed resources', is still little-explored by most travelers, although organized groups are increasingly being let in. Measuring just over 40 sq km, it includes the Sierra de Jatibonico , a range of hills that runs across the entire north of the province and acts as a kind of buffer zone for the heavily protected Bahía de Buenavista. As in the Sierra Maestra, history is intertwined with the ecology here: General Máximo Gomez battled through these hills during the Spanish-Cuban-American War and in 1958 Camilo Cienfuegos' rebel army (column No 2) pitched their final command post here. An imaginative monument by sculptor José Delarra marks the spot.
Guided hikes can be organized either through Ecotur or at Villa San José del Lago. Highlights include a three-hour excursion along the Río Jatibonico , the 1km La Solapa de Genaro hike through tropical savannah to the ruins of a slave wall, and the 800m Cueva de Valdés walk through semi-deciduous woodland to the cave.
