Corcovado National Park
l Tortuguero l Arenal Volcano l Monteverde Cloud Forest l Guanacaste l Puerto Viejo de Limon l Carara National Park l Tiskita Jungle Lodge lCorcovado National Park l Manuel Antonio NP l
 Corcovado National Park as whole may be the richest ecosystem in the world. The diversity of wildlife is amazing, and the park's 135,000 acres contains lowland forest, swamps, and cloud forests containing old growth trees-ecotourism in Costa Rica would be special even if Corcovado were the only destination you could choose. You can visit this protected area via a network of trails designed to reveal this ecological wonder without destroying it. Use one of our guides or a local knowledgeable guide.
Many accommodations are now available for guests outside the park. From modest to luxurious, most offer guided day trips into the park. Other available tours in the area may include saltwater fishing; snorkeling or diving trips out to Caño Island; kayaking in the calmer waters of Drake's Bay, surfing; and seasonal dolphin and whale-watching tours. Corcovado National Park is a beautiful large park that protects an important habitat for rare wildlife and huge trees in old growth forests. It is remote, and Costa Rica works hard to preserve it as one of the last true wilderness areas in Central America-it is the Last Frontier in Costa Rica. A Costa Rica nature tour including this park will be an outstanding experience for adventurous travelers wishing to see a wilderness environment little changed over the eons. About the Park  Corcovado National Park is located on the Osa Peninsula in the remote Southwest corner of Costa Rica. This park of almost 135,000 acres protects the largest tracts of old growth lowland rainforest remaining on the western coast of Costa Rica. Rainfall is abundant here and has been recorded up to 18 feet in the wettest areas on the highest peaks of the park. The driest time of year is from December to April. The low coastal area of the park is warm, and has an average temperature of 77°F (25°C).
At the beginning of the 20th century human populations were low in Costa Rica, and a forested wilderness covered about 75% of the landscape. After about 1950 forests were removed at an astonishing rate. Forests were cut for timber, and cleared for banana plantations, rice, other crops, and cattle ranching (vast areas of forest were converted to cattle pasture in response to a rapid increase in demand for cheap beef to supply the fast- food hamburger industry in the United States). Wildlife was hunted for food and sport or to eliminate "nuisance" predators that fed on livestock (following deforestation and heavy hunting by humans, many predatory animals turned to feeding on domestic livestock because little natural prey was left!) As road access improved throughout Costa Rica, forests in even the remotest regions were being destroyed. By 1990 the amount of forest land in Costa Rica was reduced to only about 25%. (Today, forests are increasing in Costa Rica due to tree planting, and natural regeneration on pastures abandoned due to an overall decline in demand for beef. Forest cover today is estimated to be closer to 40%).  In the 1930's, gold was discovered in the Corcovado region and a lawless gold rush followed. Most miners eked out a hardscrabble living, and numbers dwindled to maybe a score by the mid 1970's.
Facing increasing pressures from logging interests, squatters, and agriculturalists who eyed the large forests on the Osa Peninsula for their commercial values, a small group of dedicated individuals from the Costa Rican National Parks Service stood up valiantly to protect the remaining old growth forests from being plundered for their natural riches and likely conversion into croplands and pastures. Many of the large trees in the old growth forests of Corcovado may be worth thousands of dollars to lumber companies, but their aesthetic, scientific and ecological values to future generations are priceless. With these latter values in mind, the national government of Costa Rica established the ancient forests of Corcovado as a national park On October 31, 1975. This large lowland forest was "the last frontier" of southwest Costa Rica. The Park Today Protecting this remote frontier park isn't so easy. When the price of gold soared in 1981, an estimated 1400 illegal miners flocked to the park. The miners did a lot of damage by removing tons of soil and flushing it to find bits of gold with river water. "If the rivers aren't muddy, you aren't working hard enough," was their philosophy. In addition to damaging the landscape and polluting the rivers, they lived off the land by hunting the local wildlife for food. The situation was getting out of hand as miners refused to leave when ordered to do so by the park rangers. In 1986 the rural guard was called in, and several hundred miners were arrested and evicted. In 1993, miners were again evicted by the police. Likely today, small numbers may still be secretively trickling in and out of the park. Another problem in the park, likely most serious near the populated outer boundaries, is illegal hunting. Furtive hunting threatens the populations of the endangered white-lipped peccaries and other species and is difficult to control.  The park has a rugged dark rocky coastline mixed with dark sand beaches. The forest grows right to the edge of the high tide line, and coconut palms arch out from the forest towards the ocean. The surf is rough here, and the whole area conveys the impression of being a timeless wilderness. A few small park ranger buildings and modest numbers of visitors hiking on the trails are the main exceptions to this otherwise pristine appearance. But this park is big enough for visitors to immerse themselves in an almost completely isolated wilderness- if they want.
Corcovado contains a variety of habitats including lowland forest at the coast, swamp forest and lagoon in the interior, and cloud forest in its mountains. The biological diversity of this park is enormous. In reality, Corcovado is as close as can be to being a complete ecosystem containing all the flora and fauna that once existed in the former forests of the entire region. Five hundred species of trees have been recorded in the park, almost one fourth of all tree species found in Costa Rica. Although some forested sections of Corcovado had been cut prior to its designation as a national park in 1975, most of the forest is primary or "old growth" forest. Some of the trees in the park are huge. One giant kapok tree was measured to be nearly 230 feet tall, and may be the nation's tallest!  The variety of wildlife here is tremendous. All four of Costa Rica's monkey species occur here (the mantled howling monkey, Central American squirrel monkey, white-throated capuchin monkey and spider monkey). The four monkey species are only found together in this area. Corcovado is an important stronghold for white-lipped peccaries, and is the only area where a visitor is likely to see herds of this pig-like animal, although illegal hunting is a serious threat for the peccaries. Baird's tapirs live in the park, and are sometimes seen on guided tours. Corcovado is also home to the largest population of Scarlet macaws in Costa Rica. These beautiful scarlet, yellow, and blue-feathered members of the parrot family can often be seen feeding on seeds of the wild almond trees growing along the upper edge of the beaches. Huge white king vultures live in and around the park. Cousins to the South American condor these magnificent birds have a six-foot wingspan, pearly-white plumage and harlequin face-colors. The granular poison-dart frog, found only in the lowlands of southwest Costa Rica, also lives in Corcovado. Four species of sea turtles nest in small numbers on the beaches (olive ridley, leatherback, hawksbill, and Pacific green sea turtle). American crocodiles are also here and probably most numerous in the large lagoon in the interior of the park. Corcovado is probably the only place in Costa Rica where a visitor has a small chance of actually seeing a jaguar, or fresh signs of it. In reality, these big cats are very wary, elusive and so shy that they move into the depths of the forest when they detect the presence of humans. It is very unlikely you will see one while walking in the park, but maybe, the jaguar will have seen you!…
l Tortuguero l Arenal Volcano l Monteverde Cloud Forest l Guanacaste l Puerto Viejo de Limon l Carara National Park l Tiskita Jungle Lodge lCorcovado National Park l Manuel Antonio NP l
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