Guanacaste National Park (Costa Rica)

Guanacaste National Park (Costa Rica)

Posted in:

Guanacaste National Park is located in the northern part of Costa Rica. It was created to allow a corridor between the dry forest and rainforest areas where many species migrate seasonally. It is a part of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site.

Guanacaste National Park

Guanacaste National Park is located in the northern part of Costa Rica and was created to allow a corridor between the dry forest and rainforest areas in which many species migrate seasonally.

It covers an area of approximately 32,500 ha (80,300 acres), from the slopes of the Orosí and Cacao volcanoes west to the Interamerican Highway. It is a part of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site. The nearest city is La Cruz to the northwest.

Guanacaste National Park was created to connect the neighboring Santa Rosa National Park with the high-altitude forests of the two volcanoes, Orosi and Cacao, and the Caribbean rainforest in the country's north.

The two parks provide enough land for wide-ranging species like jaguars and mountain lions. In addition, it constitutes a biological corridor for birds and insects between the dry forest, evergreen cloud forest, and rainforest.

Maritza Biological Station is positioned at the foot of the Orosi volcano among the hills that are relics of Plio-Cuaternary volcanoes and plains formed by the accumulation of ash, pyroclasts and ignimbrites.

The western slope of these volcanoes is covered with evergreen rainforests. Trees here can grow up to 30 m (100 ft) in height, and the predominating species are the Santa María, Tempisque and Monkey Apple. The rainy season lasts from May to November, giving way to the intense sun typical of Guanacaste.

The Tempisque River flows through the park's lowland areas. There are dry forests at lower elevations and cloud forests at higher elevations. The trail leading to the Orosi Volcano has pre-Columbian petroglyphs near the plain at El Pedregal.

Guanacaste National Park is home to 140 species of mammals, over 300 birds, 100 amphibians and reptiles, and over 10,000 species of insects that have been identified. This high density of bio-diversity encouraged the Costa Rican government to protect this area.

The dry forest inhabitants include collared peccaries, howler monkeys, white-nosed coatis, white-tailed deer, variegated squirrels, long-tongued bats, and capuchin monkeys.