Rincon de la Vieja National Park Travel Guide
Travel to Rincon de la Vieja National Park - Ranching beneath volcanic peaks & amongst National Reserves
- Ratings:
- Be the first to rate this.
-
Reviews:
-
Be the first to write a review
Rincon de la Vieja National Park is known for its abundance of orchid species and is home to a wide variety of bird species including quetzals, toucanets, the elegant trogon, eagles, three-wattled bellbirds, and the curassow. Mammals found in the park include cougars, howler, spider, and white-faced monkeys, kinkajous, sloths, tapirs, tayras, and even jaguars.
A haven of waterfalls and great walks, there are several places to stay in the area where you can bike, hike or even get involved in cattle ranching. The parks biggest attraction is Rincon de la Vieja Volconi. At 1,895m it is the largest of five volcanoes that make up the Cordillera de Guanacaste in the northwest of the country.
Rincon de la Vieja National Park was created in 1973 and due to its remote location the park has maintained a unique and abundant population of wildlife.
The park covers 14,083-hectares of both the Caribbean and Pacific flanks of the cordillera which have markedly different levels of rainfall and vegetation. The Pacific side has a distinct dry season while the Caribbean side is lush and wet year-round, with as much as 500 cm of rainfall a year on higher slopes.
The last major eruption of the Rincon de la Vieja volcano occurred about 3,500 years ago. All subsequent eruptions, dating back to the 16th century, have occurred in the mountain's lake-filled active crater. The last serious eruption was in 1983 but again in 1991 Rincon spewed lava and acid gases causing destructive ash-mud flows burning away much of the vegetation on the south eastern slope.
Attractions in Rincon de la Vieja National Park
Rincon de la Vieja National Park is home to 257 bird species including the blue-throated goldentail, whitefronted parrot, spectacled owl, laughing falcon, red trogon, black-faced solitaire, curassow, emerald toucanet and Montezuma oropendola.
Mammals found here include peccaries, coatis, skunks, white-faced and howler monkeys, 2-toed sloths, armadillos and anteaters.
The park also has probably one of the largest populations of the national flower of Costa Rica, the orchid 'Guaria Morada'.
The Rincon de la Vieja volcano is composed of nine separate but neighbouring volcanic craters, with the dormant Santa María the tallest at 1,916m.
Activities in Rincon de la Vieja National Park
Of the various trails within the park, one trail leads to the summit, another 5km trail leads to Catarata La Cangreja and a beautiful waterfall that cascades into a lagoon and a 4.3 km trail leads to the Cataratas Escondidas, a slightly smaller waterfall. Travellers can also enjoy thermal mud pools, waterfall swimming areas and freshwater lakes.
Relaxing
After a rewarding hike along the many trails in the park, relax and enjoy the thermal pools of Los Azufrales and take advantage of their curative properties.
Getting Around
The park is a 45 minute drive away from Liberia Airport or Liberia City. There are also public buses from Liberia.
Rincon de la Vieja National Park Reviews
Why not be the first and add your review below?
