San Rafael Chilascó is a small agricultural settlement that serves as the rallying point for visits to nearby waterfalls and into the biosphere reserve. The town’s well-organized, friendly, and professional Chilascó Community Tourism Organization has stepped in to cater to visitors’ recreational needs where NGOs have fallen short.

It runs the local Tourist Information Office (tel. 5301-8928 or 5776-1683, elsaltodechilasco [at] yahoo [dot] es, www.chilasco.net.ms, 7 a.m.–4 p.m. daily) at the entrance to town. The visitors center charges the $2 admission fee for entry to the falls, rents horses, can set you up with a guide, and provide you with comfortable accommodations with a local family or in its own basic lodge ($5 per person). Meals are available at local comedores.

San Rafael Chilascó is reached via a 12-kilometer dirt road branching east from the main highway heading northward toward Cobán (CA-14). The turnoff is at Km. 146. There are daily buses to Salamá leaving at 5:45 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 3 p.m., all of which pass by the Highway CA-14 turnoff ($0.50). You can flag down a northbound bus to Cobán or southbound to Guatemala City from the turnoff.