Embalse Toa Vaca, Villalba /Dean
Villalba June-2008, By:Travel and Sports Staff
Villalba
Gateway to the interior.
Located in the sub-central part of the interior, Villalba was founded in 1917 by Walter Mc K. Jones, a North American (for a bit of this history, visit the Walter Mc K. Jones Museum). Villalba is known as "Ciudad Avancina" (the Advanced City). In Puerto Rico, technological advances such as electricity and telephone lines came to Villalba first.
That tradition extends to the present day with one of the highest peaks in Puerto Rico, the nearby Cerro Maravilla, hosting the telecommunication towers for the entire Island.
In today's Villalba you will find a newly renovated, multilevel central plaza with a cobblestone surface, fountains, benches, a small arched clock tower and gazebo. All of this is visually integrated with the beautiful large church set at one end of the plaza with the mountains as a backdrop. It is easy to imagine how interesting it would be to attend one of the festivals set in this beautiful plaza.
Villalba is one of the main gateways to Central Puerto Rico from the south. Nearby attractions include the Orocovis-Villalba lookout tower, the Toro Negro Forest and the Doña Juana Recreational Center (see the write-up under Orocovis). The lookout tower is reached by going up Rt 151 to Rt 143 and turning east. If you turn west at Rt 143 you go to the Doña Juana Recreational Center and the Toro Negro Forest.
Also nearby in the south of Villalba are two man-made lakes, the large Lago Toa Vaca and the small Lago Guayabal, off Rt 150.
>How to go:
From Rt 52 take Rt 149 through Juana Díaz.
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