[1] El Salto del Hanabanilla was originally settled by Taino people; so far 35 aboriginal villages have been discovered around this area.

After the Spanish colonization it remained virtually untouched until the early 19th century, when it was finally settled in 1802 by Galician families trying to foment the production of tobacco and coffee and create cattle farms.

It has been recently restored and it is the deployment point for nature tourism and fresh water bass fishing activities around the surrounding mountains.

Many rivers and brooks deposit fresh water into the lake being the largest ones Negro (Literally Black), Arimao, Caonao, Mabujina, Hanabanilla, Jibacoa and Guanayara, except for the first one -Black River- the rest of the streams and most of the geography around the area retain the original Taino Arawak names.

The humidity around the lake forest has a mean of 82,73% water vapor which aids the evergreen look of the area year round.