Chirripo National Park

Chirripo National Park is located around 151 km away from San Jose, close to the city of Perez Zeledon (San Isidro del General). It has an extension of 50.150 hectares and it is better to visit the park during the dry season, which is December through March.

It is truly an unique National Park in the country, due to its mist and cold weather, and the flora of the Paramo life zone. Besides the Paramo, it also contains extensive areas of lower montane and montane rain forest. Chirripo National Park was declared a "Biosphere Reserve" by the UNESCO in 1982, and a year later (1983) was declared a "World Heritage Site".

Among its main attractions are mountain hiking, wildlife observation and technical rock climbing. The park has its name because of the Chirripó Peak, which is the tallest mountain in the country (3.819 meters high). Visitors should be prepared for great temperature variations (from 24º C to below 0º temperatures).

Visitors should call the National Park and arrange their stay in the shelter up in the Park. Due to its great altitude it is advice for visitors to stay in the park at least 2 days. From the entrance to the park to the top of the mountain where the shelter is, there are 15 kilometers, which is around a 10 hours hike.

Link: 10 Wonders of Costa Rica