Los Llanitos

Los Llanitos is a small mountain settlement in the sierra behind Puerto Vallarta, in the rural south-east of the municipality, roughly 12 km from the city center as the crow flies. It sits at about 750 meters above sea level among forested ridges in the upper basin of the Río Cuale, the river that further downstream runs through the middle of Vallarta. The hamlet of El Jorullo, whose ejido built the long suspension bridge over the Cuale canyon, is about 2 km to the west, and Cerro Alto, at around 1,350 meters, rises just to the south-east.

The road that climbs here from the city is named after the village: the Camino Los Llanitos, which also leads to the River Park adventure park and its suspension bridges at kilometer 4.5. Beyond the park the road keeps climbing into the hills to Los Llanitos itself. The 2020 census counted 159 people living in 42 homes, up from 87 in 2005, and almost every home now has electricity, piped water and a mobile phone. The village has its own community secondary school. Being higher up, it is noticeably cooler and wetter than the coast, with an average of about 23 °C and rain on more than 200 days a year.

This is not a tourist village and there are no services for visitors. Its interest is as a glimpse of the green, quiet mountain country not far above the beaches, and as the end point of a scenic drive past El Jorullo. Like other outlying communities of the municipality it has long asked the city for better roads, and the road is unpaved in parts, so ask about conditions after heavy rain. Do not confuse it with the Los Llanitos neighborhood of Ixtapa, on the other side of the city, whose planned house of culture Vallarta's Mango Festival has raised money for.