Costa Rica National Parks

Costa Rica is truly blessed by having 25% of its territory under the protection of a system of national reserves and parks. Not many countries are as lucky in this respect. Most of these protected areas, which total seventy five, have been established as such in the last thirty years. These seventy five areas contain approximately four percent of the world’s flora, fauna and ecosystems, such as the rainforest, swamps, mangroves, dry forests, and several others.
Not all protected areas are considered parks, since there are also biological reserves, national wildlife refuges and privately owned reserves.
Unlike parks, a biological reserve is more interested in protecting an ecosystem and its organisms, than a scenic or historical area. A National wildlife refuge or Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre o Refugio Nacional de Fauna Silvestre, is practically the same as a biological reserve, but it’s usually less demarcated and there are very few services or rangers.

Baurlio carrillo National Park
This flora and fauna sanctuary is an emerald-green mass of vegetation, a saturation of tropical plants, waterfalls and trees that are heavily laden with orchids and other plants that cling to their branches. Even if someone has witnessed the splendor of a virgin rainforest before, no one that visits this park can avoid feeling a sense of awe because of its beauty and magnitude. It is located only 20 kms. Northeast of the capital city of San Jose, and it’s open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The park was founded in 1978 in order to save some of the area that was being opened up by the Guapiles Highway, and it was named after the third president of Costa Rica who ruled in the mid 1800’s. The Braulio Carrillo Park is one of the easiest and closest parks to access from San Jose. There’s an excellent bus service from San Jose to the park and vice-versa, since Guapiles, Siquirres and Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui buses stop right in front of the ranger station. The Braulio Carrillo is one of the easiest parks to access from San Jose, but its tropical splendor and magnificence set it apart from the rest of the country. After only a thirty or forty minute drive from San Jose, you will encounter this amazing place, which reminds people of what ¾ of the country used to be like, only fifty years ago.

Cahuita National Park
The Caribbean area offers a natural and cultural environment that is completely different from the rest of the country. Coconut trees leaning towards the ocean, spectacular reefs. Even if you’re not the Rasta type, you shouldn’t miss out on the natural beauty of the forest and reefs of Cahuita.
The Cahuita National Park measures 1067 hectares, including 240 hectares of reef that extend outward from Cahuita Point. The tropical forest shelters various animals. Cahuita is also known for its coral reef, which unfortunately, suffered much damage with an earthquake that occurred on April 22nd, 1991. Even after this disaster occurred, the reef still offers 35 species of coral, including elkhorn , fan and brain coral. It’s essential to bring a snorkel and a mask, especially during March- April or September to October, when there is less rain in Limon.

Corcovado National Park
This park protects 41,788 hectares of rainforests, swamps, rivers, lagoons, marshes and paradisiacal beaches. Because of its isolated location, Corcovado protects animals that are scarce in other areas, such as the tapir, the crocodile, the ocelot, the jaguar, the giant anteater and the harpy eagle.
The Osa Peninsula, where Corcovado is located, is extremely humid and hot, and rainfall increases drastically from April to December. The terrain in the park includes beaches of soft sand , swamps and mangroves and tropical forest, but hikers spend most of their time on beach trails. Corcovado National Park is truly a biological wonder.
It can also prove to be an incredible adventure, both before getting there and afterwards. This is where visitors have more of a chance of spotting rare wild animals, and of temporarily inhabiting one of the world’s most pristine and unsoiled areas. Its isolation, rather than being a disadvantage, is a great benefit for the area, because it keeps the effects of civilization down to a minimum. Corcovado National Park should be visited before the number of visitors increases, thus spoiling its virginal nature.

Manuel Antonio National Park
Manuel Antonio is one of the smolest parks the park entrance is in Playa Espadilla, The park is constituted by beautiful beaches and by the surrounding vegetation of the forest that grows right next to the coastline. The four beaches are: Espadilla Sur, Manuel Antonio, Escondido and Playita. Visitors can walk on the beach or in the cooler trails in the forest, where they can spot animals including monkeys (capuchin and howler for the most part) sloths, raccoons and quatamundis or “pizotes.” One can only see caimans, river otters, pacas, and even ocelots. The best time for spotting most animals is early in the morning. The park also offers tidal pools and a marine life which is seen clearly mostly during the dry season, since during the rainy season sediment in the water will ruin a snorkeler’s
There are many ways to get to Manuel Antonio. The most common is by car or by bus. If you go by public bus, then you’ll have to catch a bus from San Jose to Quepos, and then from Quepos to Manuel Antonio.
Because Manuel Antonio one of  the oldest national parks you can easily find accommodations and facilities. Visitors of all budgets and tastes can indulge in both natural and social activities. Manuel Antonio offers something for everyone, or that is, for everyone who wants to get out of the major cities of Costa Rica.

Volcano Aranal National Park
The park has two volcanoes: Chato, whose collapsed crater contains an emerald lagoon surrounded by forest, and the perfectly conical Arenal. The park is most directly accessed from La Fortuna, but is also easily accessed via Tilarán and the north shore of Lake Arenal.
With international support the local communities are helpt to protect buffer zones where the land is under siege by drawing them into ecotourism. Several visitor sites provide toilets and drinking water. And trails and lookout points have been constructed. Vulcan Arenal (1,633 meters) is a picture-perfect cone. It's also Costa Rica's most active volcano and a must-see on any tourist's itinerary. Note, however, that it is most often covered in clouds and getting to see an eruption is a matter of luck (the dawn hours are best, before the clouds roll in; seasonally, you stand a reasonable chance in dry season, and less than favorable odds in rainy season). Arenal was sacred to pre-Columbian tribes, but it slumbered peacefully throughout the colonial era. On 29 July 1968, it was awakened from its long sleep by a fateful earthquake. The massive explosion that resulted wiped out the villages of Tabacón and Pueblo Nuevo, whose entire populations perished
It is regarded as one of the world's most active volcanoes. Its lava flows and eruptions have been constant, and on virtually any day you can see smoking cinder blocks tumbling down the steep slope from the horseshoe-shaped crater that opens to the west--or at night watch a fiery cascade of lava spewing from the 140-meter-deep crater. Some days the volcano blows several times in an hour, spewing house-size rocks, sulfur dioxide and chloride gases, and red-hot lava.

Volcan Poas National
Volcan Poas is one of the most visited volcanoes in Costa Rica, because of its proximity to San Jose and because of the luxuriant forest that surrounds the two craters. The ride there is scenic and pleasant, and since it’s only 47 kilometers away from San Jose, many local and foreign visitors flock to the park, especially on weekends. The La Paz waterfall, which is only twenty minutes away from the park, is the most photographed waterfall in all of Costa Rica. Visitors to the park won’t want to miss out on it. The park measures 5600 hectares, and this basaltic volcano stands at an altitude of 2708 meters (8,200 feet) above sea level.
One of the craters measures 1.5 kilometers in diameter (0.9 miles) and is 300 meters deep (900 feet). The other crater is the one mentioned above, called Botos Lagoon, which unlike the other lake, contains cold water that connects to the Rio Angel, and later to the large Rio Sarapiqui. The volcano has had a long history of eruptions, going back as much as 11 million years ! On January 25, 1910, the volcano spewed out 640,000 tons of ash, and in the period of 1952-1954, it bombarded nearby areas with ash and rocks. Since then, the Poas has maintained a low profile, but as recently as 1989, the park was closed because of dangerous sulphurous gas emissions. Its geyser-like eruptions of muddy water and steam, have given it the reputation as the world’s largest geyser.
Apart from its volcanic activity, this national park offers four different habitats; this, in a relatively small area, is evidence of Costa Rica’s incredible biodiversity.

Volcan Irazu National
Irazu volcano erupted on March 19, 1963. The volcano had the nerve to erupt on the same day that President John F. Kennedy visited Costa Rica. For the next two years after the eruption, the volcano spewed showers of ash that went as far as San Jose, and that damaged many crops and homes. The volcano’s first recorded eruption had occurred in 1723, during colonial times, but the 1963 eruption seems to have been much worse. The park that includes this volcano covers 2309 hectares, its highest point being 3432 meters (approxim. 10,300 feet) above sea level.
There is a theorie that it’s named after “Istaru”, a 16th century Indian palisade built in the nearby town of Cot. The park is remarkable because of its surreal lunar landscape. There are two main craters, one is called the “Diego de la Haya” crater that contains a strangely colored lake (some days it’s light green and others it’s red) and the other is 300 meters (900 feet) deep. Even the scarce and austere vegetation contributes to the other-worldly feeling of the place. Nevertheless, there are some species of animals that manage to live in this severe and rugged area - coyotes, tiger cats, long-tailed weasels and some species of birds like the clay-colored robins.
The Volcan Irazu is behaving itself, but it occasionally emits clouds of hydrogen and carbon dioxide gas at temperatures lower than 100 c. Visitors to the National Park are safe, since volcanic or seismic activity is monitored by national and foreign institutions. Its 400 hectares of volcanic ash and scoria, as well as its strangely tinted lake have a strange beauty to them that you won’t want to miss

Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve
Here in the Reserve Santa Elena of Monteverde, warm North-Easterly trade winds, filled with moisture, blow in over the Atlantic. As the winds sweep up to the Continental divide, they cool and condense to form clouds, bathing the forest in a constant soft mist. The cloud forest here receives an incredible four meters of rain every year- that is almost twelve feet. One of the most characteristic features the cloud forest is the abundance of vegetation. Competition for growing space is so intense that trunks and branches are almost entirely covered with a variety of epiphytes, lichens, liverworts, bryophytes and mosses. The epiphyte mats store moisture, which is specially important in the dry season (February to May). The lush cloud forest canopy of Monteverde is thus home to many species of insects, amphibians, and mammals which never even come down to the forest floor.
A walk through the cloud forest can be an eerie experience. As the high clouds creep through the twisted trees and hanging vines around you, strange sounds fill the air. Strong winds and the added weight of water-laden epiphytes often cause branches to fall to the ground. This reduces the height of the cloud forest canopy and adds to the forest's gnarled appearance. Falling branches also create light gaps, allowing the growth of light tolerant plants and producing a constant mosaic of succession. A perfect place for hiking, bird watching, volunteering or do some research.

Costa Rica has a large bio-diversity which originates from the different climates and geological circumstances in this country.  The animals which you can come be against especially monkeys, birds, insecten, butterflies, amphibians and still much more, small but fascinerend. You gedult must the animals are able see because by by their ' malignant ' overlevings trucs is see them frequently with difficulty such as schutkleuren. It not always easy that one splendid photograph is make be able. What you certainly keep up however an enormous feeling of wealth is, as varied and ingenious as nature in fact in each other sits. And the importance of these protected areas. A small overview of the national parks in Costa Rica. The activities which are in the vele parks be to do, in general it commonly similar. Such as paardrijden, canopy tour (kabbelbaan by the tree tops), or skywalk (walk concerning a rope bridge by the tree tops).

Monteverde
Almost everyone takes this park in its travel on, and that whereas the 2 hours gone and 2 hours ' ' bump ' is the world inhabited as from. You arrive in a type messy ' ' cowboy village ': Saint Helena. Around large parts of jungle, in some private parkjes (such as Selva Verde, where you can walk concerning hangbruggen between the tree tops and along cables boomslingeren are possible) and the state parks Monteverde divided and Saint Helena lie. Monteverde are this way particular because animal - and plantleven are combined with the mysterious nevel which by the park floats. Complete dense begroeiing: branches and tribes of trees are covert with orchids, bromelia's, varens, lianen and mossen. On spots where water cannot be gone squelchy marsh areas. Elsewhere flows kristalheldere rivers which end in in tropical water falls. Particular animals here enough; vogelliefhebbers come to this park in the hope the rare ' ' resplendent ' of seeing quetzal. Visit the park with a guide, differently misses you already t particular mainly. Saint Helena park, on the other hand of the village, is more roughly and less is visited. It is certainly this way beautiful and varied. A guide takes when you this forest goes in, thus you can learn a lot much and seeing splendid nature. Volcano Aranal, on few spots in the world can you come really near a working volcano. Spots still less are there where that volcano lies in a beautiful tropical landscape in Costa Rica. The Arenal and the national park around cannot you therefore also missing. He who at night to the terrace of the Observatory lodge goes, the red rocks can be called lava down to roll. Around the lake of Fortuna you can walk. Also you make certainly tripje to the water falls (in a thick jungle) and, if you have enough time more, to Caño Negro, a bird paradise near Nicaragua reach that from Fortuna easily are. As you read already, we let us guess to also the Arenal in your sniffing you to incorporate. Manuel Antonio are of the scarce places where the jungle borders directly to the range. You can therefore also with your zwemspullen the park. After the rather very visited first kilometre trail heuveltje on and heuveltje finished, it becomes more quietly: many travellers do not come many verder..en have you already rapidly strandje for your only. The park himself has a lot of birds, butterflies but especially also monkeys, such as roar monkey and brutal kapucijneraapjes. A particular combination park and nature range. Pay attention, however, because the park has been closed on Mondays. Tortuguero are the nest area of the green turtle. In the months of July up to November they come lay their eggs in large getale on the range. But not only in these months you Tortuguero must see: behind the tortoise range labyrintachtig an area of natural, tropical water ways lies. With small boats the complete year in the broad and narrow water canals of near wildlife can you sneer: monkey types, toekans, leopard, alligators and the poison frogs where Costa Rica is confessed for. With guide is captivating because you he sees much and weet, but you can also opuit go there without guide, in houten a canoe in the canals around your lodge. It breathes the Caribsche environment and has an unique water/mangrove/jungle combination. Rincon the drawer Vieja, especially nice because it is a rough park and because are no wandelpaden moored there. American tourists do not have enough time frequently this put on park. A park guard maisonnette is the only organised element. Nature is very alternating, light kapok bunches, dark water falls and giant tree carrots where you clamber across. Dry fields, volcanic lakes, sulphur and mud pits and narrow stroompjes where you must climb concerning the rocks. You can make a splendid walk and the blue water fall, several meertjes and zwemplekjes to visit. Still a full day has you, then the considerable day appetite is predominate to the top of Rincon, where you come also really dense at the crater. The Rincon are really a must for the active holiday ganger. Nature and rests, no upheaval, no commercie and much alternation. Pay attention, however, the park has been closed on Mondays. Corcovado are the position isolated by the most original park. You passing away there especially because you want the feeling of a park, everywhere far from. In Corcovado you find mammals, reptielen, amphibians, 800 at, among which die out with threatened types. The territory covers of marsh, mangrove rain forest and stores. There life jaguars, reuze ant-eaters, squirrel monkeys, leopards and 6000 insectensoorten beside this abundance are there leave, water falls and rivers strand of which the banks have been grown over with rare plants. Braulio Carrillo National park, differently than all parks, is this park no aim in itself. You will examine it earlier mobile than current. Coming San José disappear you in drive-through nevelwoud. Along sinuous are omitted in dry the season water drops omlaag those splendid mosmuren do arise. In the wet season to water falls has stroompjes changed. Regent it really much then come sometimes landslides. A lot of will drive by it gone when they drive Jose of San to Tortugero or Cahita. You extra then to be there good view points have uurtje along the way, among which the Visitors Center. Be you with the hiring car, then you can make a walk concerning the turned off paths. Cahuita, as it is called in fact, cover a narrow country counterfoil of approx. 1000 ha flat beside the relaxte Caribbean plaatsje Cahuita. Onderwater-deel, a Navy National park are 22 x this way large: 22,000 ha. It is rough, warmly (takes along drink) and wet and the trails are not busy. Most popular the 3 hours lasting trail is which follows the range. You start in Cahita run by the park and take back at the other termination and bus to Cahita. The entrée to cost to be voluntary. It is nicest that you can snorkel here as from the range.