How To Hike The El Pianista Trail in Boquete — ALONG DUSTY ROADS

The El Pianista is the most notorious trail in Panama.

That’s not due to its difficulty or its scenery, but because of a tragic episode that made international headlines and continues to captivate the true crime community.

If you’re simply scouting out some hikes to do in Boquete, there’s a good chance you may not even be aware of its darker backstory – but the context is necessary.

In 2014, Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon – two young Dutch backpackers – disappeared and died in mysterious, unsettling circumstances. One of Panama’s most talked-about cases where much that’s known makes little sense, it’s riddled with mysterious photos, partial remains, confusing evidence, police incompetence, local gossip, and many unanswered questions.

The official verdict is that they got lost in this dense cloud forest for several days before dying, but the alternative narrative is that one or both were murdered.

These unsettling events loom over the trail and small highland coffee town as much the dark afternoon clouds that roll in, and from personal experience, it’s very easy to fall down a rabbit hole of podcasts, forums, and articles about it.

Fundamentally though, beyond the conspiracies and accusations, it’s a heartbreaking story of two young female travellers who never made it home – something that just shouldn’t happen on any hike or adventure.

Whilst our article isn’t going to focus in-depth on what (may have) happened after they reached the summit of El Pianista, we are going to share a few good resources at the end where you can learn more if you wish.

Instead, we’re going to do what we usually do, and share our personal insights on the hike and all the essentials to help you decide whether to include El Pianista in your Boquete itinerary, as well as plan your own hike. We’ll cover routes, conditions, transport, getting lost, what to bring, mistakes to avoid, whether you really need to go with a certain guide or not, and why you probably can’t trust your GPS.

We’ll also try to give a fair, balanced perspective on some of the fears, speculation, hyperbole that continues to give a false impression of the trail’s risks to current day hikers.

This is our guide to hiking the El Pianista, Boquete.