The valley of the Vinales, lying between the City of Pinar del Rio and the north coast, might well be called the garden of the “magotes,” since not only is it surrounded by their precipitous walls, but several of them, detached from the main chain, rise abruptly from the floor of the valley, converting it into one of the most strangely beautiful spots in the world.
John D. Henderson, the naturalist, in speaking of this region, says: “The valley of the Vinales must not be compared with the Yosemite or Grand Canon, or some famed Alpine passage, for it cannot display the astounding contrasts of these, or of many well-known valleys among the higher mountains of the world. We were all of us traveled men who viewed this panorama, but all agreed that never before had we gazed on so charming a sight. There are recesses among the Rocky Mountains of Canada in which one gazes with awe and bated breath, where the very silence oppresses, and the beholder instinctively reaches out for support to guard against slipping into the awful chasm below. But the Valley of Vinales, on the contrary, seems to soothe and lull the senses. Like great birds suspended in the sky, we long to soar above it, and then alighting within some palm grove, far below, to rejoice in its atmosphere of perfect peace.”
A mountain maze of high, round-topped lomas dominates almost the entire northern half of Pinar del Rio. It is the picturesque remnant of an elevated plain that at some time in the geological life of the Island was raised above the surface 1500, perhaps 2000, feet. This, through the erosion of thousands of centuries, has been carved into great land surges, without any particular alignment or system.
Straight up through the center of this mountainous area are projected a series of more or less parallel limestone ridges. These, as a rule, have an east and west axis, and attain a greater elevation than the lomas. They are known as the Sierras de los Organos, although having many local names at different points. Water and atmospheric agencies have carved them into most fantastic shapes, so that they do, in places, present an organ pipe appearance. They are almost always steep, often with vertical walls or “paradones” that rise 1000 feet from the floor or base on which they rest.
The northernmost range, running parallel to the Gulf Coast, is known as the “Costanero.” The highest peak of Pinar del Rio is called Guajaibon, which rises to an altitude of 3000 feet, with its base but very little above the level of the sea. It is probably of Jurassic limestone and forms the eastern outpost of the Costaneros.
The southern range of the Organos begins with an interesting peak known as the Pan de Azucar, located only a few miles east of the Pena Blanca. From this western sentinel with many breaks extends the great southern chain of the Organos with its various groups of “magotes,” reaching eastward throughout the entire province. At its extreme eastern terminus we find a lower and detached ridge known as the Pan de Guanajay, which passes for a few miles beyond the boundary line, and into the province of Havana.
Surrounding the Organos from La Esperanza west, and bordering it also on the south for a short distance east of the city of Pinar del Rio, are ranges of round topped lomas, composed largely of sandstone, slate and shale. The surface of these is covered with the small pines, scrubby palms and undergrowth found only on poor soil.
From the Mulato River east, along the north coast, the character of the lomas changes abruptly. Here we have deep rich soil covered with splendid forests of hard woods, that reach up into the Organos some ten miles back from the coast. Along the southern edge of the Organos, from Herredura east, lies a charming narrow belt of rolling country covered with a rich sandy loam that extends almost to the city of Artemisa.
Extensions, or occasional outcroppings, of the Pinar del Rio mountain system, appear in the province of Havana, and continue on into Matanzas, where another short coastal range appears, just west of the valley of the Yumuri. This, as before stated, has its continuation in detached ridges that extend along the entire north coast, with but few interruptions, until merged into the mountain maze of eastern Oriente.
Outside of the mountainous districts thus described, the general surface of Cuba is a gently undulating plain, with altitudes varying from only a few feet above the sea level to 500 or 600 feet, near El Cristo in Oriente. In Pinar del Rio it forms a piedmont plain that entirely surrounds the mountain range. On the south this plain has a maximum width of about 25 miles and ascends gradually from the shores of the Caribbean at the rate of seven or eight feet to the mile until it reaches the edge of the foothills along the line of the automobile drive, connecting Havana with the capital of Pinar del Rio.