Things to do nearParque Nacional Tapantí

Parque Nacional Tapantí sits within the Amistad Conservation Area in the highlands above the Orosi Valley, protecting roughly 58,000 hectares of premontane and cloud forest. Established as a wildlife refuge in 1982 and later elevated to national park status, it safeguards the upper watershed of the Río Grande de Orosi, which supplies drinking water to much of the Central Valley.

The park's trail network is modest but rewarding. The Oropéndola and Arboles Caídos trails lead through cathedral-like forest where strangler figs embrace ancient trees and the calls of toucans and bellbirds carry through the canopy. Visitors can also swim in designated pools along the river, a cool and refreshing reward after a morning hike. Guided hikes through this terrain offer an excellent way to spot species that untrained eyes might easily miss.

Rainfall here can exceed 7,000 millimeters per year, feeding dozens of waterfalls that tumble down moss-covered cliffs. That moisture sustains an astonishing variety of amphibians, including several endemic species, alongside pumas, tapirs, and more than 260 recorded bird species. Parque Nacional Tapantí is one of the few accessible places in Costa Rica where true cloud forest solitude is still easy to find, making it well worth the winding road from the Orosi Valley below.