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Where is Monteverde Cloud Forrest?
Monteverde Cloud Forrest is accessible via
several routes. You can reach Monteverde by going
from San Jose on Pan American Highway One to San Ramon
across the mountains. You can depart from Lake
Arenal dam and take a ferry or tour boat across the lake
and then rent a jeep or shuttle to Monteverde also. I
prefer to take the mountain dirt road from Tilaran to
Monteverde. It's a couple hours drive from Tilaran
across the mountains and through man small villages. You
also go by Don Juan Coffee Plantation this way and make
a side stop for some get coffee. We left from Nuevo
Arenal about 30 minutes West of La Fortuna to Tilaran
and on to Monteverde and it took us about three hours
driving time. You have to take it slow as it's a dirt
road much of the way. You will also need a reliable 4 x
4 vehicle. You will only need to use the 4 x 4 if you
run into a rain downpour, but it's definitely a good
ideas to have. Santa Elena is the town near
Monteverde where you can spend the night if you want
more than the shared housing at the Monteverde park.
Santa Elena has several restaurants, bars, pharmacy,
grocery stores, hardware stores and more. It's a
thriving little town on the border of the Monteverde
National Park.
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From the above map
of Lake Arenal and Monteverde area you can see
Monteverde in the lower left corner. The three main
access routes to Monteverde are indicated above. It is
possible to also to drive from La Fortuna or Nuevo
Arenal and go around the East end of Lake Arenal and
down the Lake Arenal coastline to Monteverde, however
there are rivers that run into the lake that do not have
bridges so you'll need 4 x 4 and maybe even a lift kit
on your vehicle.
What Activities Are At The Cloud Forrest? There's
unbelievable tropical vegetation of all types. Assorted
wildlife such as butterflies, frogs, birds and insects.
The park offers guided tours or you can walk the trails
yourself. They have several tours ranging from 1 hour to
2 1/2 hours depending on how slowly you walk the trails.
It rains a lot of the time in the cloud forest so be
sure to bring rain gear, hiking boots and your camera.
It can get cool in the cloud forest so dress warm as you
can always remove clothing. Don't bog yourself down with
to much heave gear as the trails have some steep areas
that can make you very tired hauling a heavy backpack.
The cloud forest reserve also has a small lodge
including three meals a day for around $65 each in a
dormitory style. We art lunch there and the food is
delicious.
Photo
Tour Of Monteverde Cloud Forest Park Reserve
Everything You Need To Know To Visit Monteverde
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One of several look outs with
panoramic views of the cloud forest
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Monteverde park walking trails photos and hiking tips
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Monteverde Cloud Forest Park Reserve Hours Of Operation:
The
national park is open from 7 am to 4 pm. The admission
is currently $18 each. Only a limited number of tour
buses are allowed into the park in order to ensure no
permanent damage is done to the park. There is no
restriction for the number individuals entering the park
by automobile. One of our biggest concerns was
driving three hours from Nuevo Arenal on Lake Arenal to
the park and finding only a limited number of persons
would be allowed each day, but this only applies to tour
busses allowed into the park daily. The
Monteverde Rainforest Park Reserve phone number is (506)
645-51-22
Facilities at the park:
The park has nice restrooms, a well stocked gift shop, a
Tico style restaurant with outstanding food. A lounging
area with couches. A small dormitory style lodge from
$45 to $65 per day per person including three meals and
very helpful staff. The restaurant offers salads, soups,
sandwiches, Gringo and Tico breakfasts, water and sodas.
The prices are very reasonable and the food is
excellent. We had six persons in our party and everyone
got something different including eggplant, carrot soup,
beans & rice, fried plantains, sea bass, salads and
mixed vegetables. Everyone in our parts felt it was one
of the better meals they had tried in Costa Rica. A meal
will average $8 to $10 each.
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Tips on using the park hiking trails:
The hiking trails are clearly marked and they provide
you with a detailed map of the trails when you purchase
your ticket. The hiking trails are well constructed of
rock and a dirt mix. We visited the cloud forest park
during early March 2010 and the weather was wet and
raining. The trails have very secure footing with tennis
sues or light hiking footwear. We never experienced a
problem slipping as we walked up and down the trails.
The trails are clearly marker as far as total distance
and total elevation from start to finish. We thought
this very helpful in deciding which trails to attempt.
There are usually shortcuts with little vertical incline
on most trails if you don't want to be climbing up and
down hills. There are nice park style wooden benches
with back supports scattered through the park trails.
Wildlife On The Hiking Trails:
If you want to see frogs, birds and
insects I suggest you take one of the guided tours
available at the park entrance. It's not necessary to
purchase tickets before arriving at the park or
scheduling guided tours prior to your arrival. The
guides know the areas along the trails where the
wildlife hangs out and can make it easier to spot
wildlife in the rainforest. If however you just want to
view the variety of trees and plants, you can hit the
trails on your own. When you purchase your tickets you
will be given a list of trails and estimated walking
times. We found their projected completion times to be
very accurate. One of the trails has a nice waterfall
with some great photo opportunities. The park also
offers night tours through the Monteverde Cloud Forest
and this is perhaps the best time to view local wildlife
inside the park.
Mosquito & Insect Bites
We were told there were no mosquitoes in
the park due to the altitude of over 5,000 feet. We
tried to locate some repellent prior to leaving on our
hike but could not locate any. We had no issues with
insect bites during our visit to the park. Definitely
bring comfortable rain gear though as it is very humid.
Camera & Other Electronics In The Park
Cameras are allowed in the park but flash photography
and loud talking are now. Many people visit the park to
do bird watching and photography. The wildlife is much
more cooperative when everyone is quiet. One problem you
may experience is fogging of your camera lenses and
damage to your camera electronics from the high humidity
and rain. We actually took one of the new Olympia 10
mega pixel waterproof (underwater) camera and has
some fogging of the lenses.
Traveling To The Cloud Rainforest Forest
This was our second attempt to visit the park. Last year
we tried driving over and hit a rain downpour so bad we
had to abort out trip. The roads can become completely
covered with rushing water and the road side banks can
have waterfalls rushing off them into the highway, so
plan accordingly. Finding accommodations near Monteverde
is also very easy so you don't have to book lodging.
It's best to drive around town and locate the lodging
you like best anyway. Some of the restaurants and
accommodations in town can be quite expensive and
catering to tourist driving through. Shop around before
you decide on either. If you decide to drive be sure to
have a full tank of gas when you leave Tilaran. We drove
over one time on 1/2 tank and couldn't get gas as the
service station was out of gas. It had taken us 1/4 tank
of gas to drive over and we still had to drive on to the
park.
We gassed us in
Nuevo Arenal and has plenty of fuel for the drive back
after our Monteverde hiking. We drove over from Nuevo
Arenal, visited the park for about 4 hours, ate a nice
late lunch and drove back to Nuevo Arenal by 8:30 pm
that same day. We sleep great that night after all the
driving and hiking. So it is possible to drive over from
La Fortuna through Tilaran then on to Santa Elena and
Monteverde and back in a day if you start early. We left
Nuevo Arenal around 7:30 am that morning.
The road was actually much
better on our March 3, 2010 visit than our previous
visit a couple year back. Heavy equipment including a
backhoe, road roller, motor grader and dump trucks were
working on the road during our visit in March 2010. We
did not encounter any major delays thought and consider
it a good sign the roads were being maintained.
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Monteverde Biological Reserve
Reserva Biologicia
Monteverde
The phone number to the Monteverde Rainforest Park
Reserve is (506) 645-51-22
Please Carry Out What You
Pack In To The Park
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Monteverde was absolutely beautiful and we highly
recommend spending a day there.
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