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La Fortuna Sloth Tour and Nature Walk

May 21, 2020 By Sammi 23 Comments

If you are visiting La Fortuna and want to see a sloth, then you must take a guided walk at the Bogarin Trail. The Bogarin Trail is a wonderful La Fortuna sloth tour and one of the best places to see sloths in Costa Rica.

If you want to see a sloth in La Fortuna, read about our experience below!

Location

The Bogarin Trail is in La Fortuna, 1 kilometer (.62 miles) west of the La Fortuna park and church.

La Fortuna Sloth Tour Trail History

This trail has a very interesting history. This unique property used to be 100% cattle farm a couple decades ago. No trees, no rainforest, no wildlife.

In 2000, a local Costa Rican, Giovanni, started restoring the forest. Now in 2018, it is impossible to tell the trail used to be a farm, it looks like a rainforest oasis filled with tropical birds, colorful frogs and sloths!

La Fortuna Sloth Tour

This is also one of the best, if not the best place to see sloths in La Fortuna. The lush forest is home to around 25 sloths which is astonishing because when Giovanni first started restoring the forest, he said there was only one!

On average, people see about 5-6 sloths in one hour which is incredible, especially knowing that just 18 years ago, this was a barren swamp! It truly is a sloth paradise.

Bogarin Trail

This relatively flat and even 2 kilometer (1.2 miles) trail is very close to downtown La Fortuna, making it an excellent option for those who have an open morning or afternoon.

Trail
Even and flat path
bogarin Trail
The trail

As you’re walking through the trail, you’ll hear the sounds of cars and people outside but you’ll feel like you’re in a remote rainforest wonderland!

Animals We Saw on the Sloth Trail La Fortuna

Here are photos of the wildlife we saw on our guided hike of the Bogarin Trail. We saw 5 sloths including one with a baby, Black mandibled toucans, hummingbirds, Jacamars, Red-Eyed Tree Frogs, poison dart frogs, basilisks and lizards!

2 fingered sloth on Bogarin Trail
Where to see sloths in La Fortuna – Bogarin Trail. This is a 2 fingered sloth we saw high in the trees.
3 fingered sloth mom and baby on Bogarin Trail La Fortuna sloth tour
3 fingered sloth holding a baby
3 fingered sloth mom on Bogarin Trail La Fortuna sloth tour
3 fingered sloth on the Bogarin sloth watching trail
3 fingered sloth mom on Bogarin Trail La Fortuna sloth tour
Juvenile 3 fingered sloth seen on the La Fortuna sloth tour
Jacamar bird
Juvenile Jacamar
Red eyed tree frog on
Red eyed tree frog
Sloth on La Fortuna sloth tour
Juvenile 3 fingered sloth
Striped basilisk
Striped Basilisk. A rare find since these reptiles aren’t not commonly seen.
Toucans
Two black mandibled toucans.

Additionally, there is also a pond with caimans (there used to be a caiman farm on the property) with babies. Giovanni also has a frog pond where you can see the red eyed tree frogs and poison dart frogs.

Video

Here is a short video of our time at the Bogarin Trail.

Guided vs Self Guided Walks

You must take a guided walk to get the best experience at this trail. We passed a couple who was leaving the trail when we got in. They did a self guided hike and said they saw just one sloth. We saw 6!

As you can see from the pictures, some of these sloths were far back in the trees and well camouflaged. Additionally, we also would have never seen the basilisk, frogs or jacamar birds. They were so deep in the trees hiding in the branches!

Another advantage is that our guide had a telescope so we were able to get photos with our phone. Not everyone has binoculars, telescopes or a zoom lens so it’s super nice that the guides have telescopes you can take pictures with.

To book a tour, you can contact them via their website or visit the trail to schedule your guided walk. They have limited guides so make reservations for guided walks. If you don’t want a guide, you can just pay for the entrance, without a reservation.

Check out these other fun things to do in La Fortuna and Arenal below!

La Fortuna Canyoning: Rappel down 4 waterfalls deep in the rainforest. So much fun!

La Fortuna horseback riding: Ride through valleys and forests for beautiful views of La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano.

Penas Blanas safari float: Float down the Penas Blancas river on a raft, great for seeing wildlife and nature.

La Fortuna night walk: See the creatures of the dark on a guided night walk

Filed Under: Activities and tours Costa Rica

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jody Nayak says

    June 19, 2023

    We will be in La Fortuna area first week December ‘23.
    Which tour do you suggest for possibility of seeing at least 4-5 sloths?
    Also, we won’t have a car, so will it be easy enough to get a taxi?

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      June 19, 2023

      Our partner offers a sloth walk with roundtrip transportation from La Fortuna hotels included, we have a small discount which you can get here: https://mytanfeet.com/special-deals/la-fortuna-arenal-tours-discount/

      Reply
  2. Ann says

    February 21, 2023

    Hello! I read on a different blog that the folks who own Bogarin Trail are under investigation for tampering with wildlife (illegally importing sloths onto their property). We want to go on this tour next month but don’t want to support a business that is tampering with wildlife. Then again, I am cognizant of how “rumors” can negatively impact a small business. Have you heard anything about this? Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      March 6, 2023

      Hi Ann, honestly I haven’t and we haven’t been to Bogarin since 2017, but our partner who used to go to to the Bogarin Trail for their sloth watching tour, doesn’t go there anymore and instead they go to another place (open field) where sloths are commonly seen so for the sloth and bird tour we offer on the website, they don’t go to Bogarin anymore

      Reply
      • Destinee Schmitt says

        March 8, 2023

        Hey Sammi where is this field at? I’m currently staying in La Fortuna and would love to see them wild

        Reply
        • Sammi says

          March 14, 2023

          it’s called Bogarin Trail very close to downtown

          Reply
          • Norene says

            March 19, 2023

            I’m confused, I thought you mentioned in your post above, that your partner does not go to Bogarin Trail anymore but to another location. Can you share the other location? Thanks

          • Sammi says

            March 20, 2023

            Hi Norene, they no longer go to a private reserve, they go to a forest area

  3. Kaylea Michaelis says

    April 13, 2022

    Hello, is there any other time I can take this tour? I am staying at arenal observatory and wanted to take this tour on my way out of La fortuna and headed to Rio Celeste hideaway. Making it there at 8am is not very feasible for that. Maybe I have to do a self guided tour just to work with my timeline?

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      April 21, 2022

      You should visit the trail on your own if the time slots don’t work for you

      Reply
  4. Melissa says

    March 5, 2022

    Hello, Do you still recommend this as the best way to see a sloth in the La Fortuna area? We will be in La Fortuna/Arenal in mid April and seeing a sloth in the wild is on the list (and we have an 8 year old girl who will love it!). Is the rafting option a good one to pair with for this age? We will have our own car–what is best way to hire a guide for 3 people?

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      March 5, 2022

      Yes this is a great tour to see sloths!

      Reply
  5. Elizabeth Wiley says

    November 28, 2020

    Hi, I toured in February of 2020 and loved it. Beautiful, marked trails, and the birds and sights were amazing. The flowers and plants coupled with the sounds were such a great immersive experience. Do the guided tour- as I didn’t see any sloths that day going solo.
    🙂

    Reply
  6. Jessica Lawrence says

    February 13, 2020

    Is there parking nearby?

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      February 13, 2020

      Yes they have a small parking area

      Reply
  7. Laura Girard says

    November 16, 2019

    It looks like you an just go to the trail and do a “guided tour” or a “private guided tour”, is that right? If we have our own transportation can we just arrive or do we need to reserve the tour?

    Reply
    • yeison says

      November 17, 2019

      Hello Laura,

      if you have your own transportation and you arrive at the trail, you can hire any of the guides that are in the trail or you can go without a guide, our recommendation is to get a guide so you will see and learn more.

      Thank you for reading Mytanfeet

      Reply
  8. Anetta Campbell says

    December 1, 2018

    Hello.
    Do they do the sloth tour in the afternoon?
    We don’t need transportation, can we meet them at the trail head. And how can we make sure we ask for Jairo?

    Thank you.

    Anetta Campbell

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      December 1, 2018

      Hi Anetta, it is possible to do a rent a guide service for half/full days, you will take the guide to where you want to do the guiding.

      Reply
  9. Lauren says

    November 4, 2018

    Love the photos! What camera/settings do you use?

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      November 4, 2018

      Hi Lauren, thanks! This was with my Canon 5d mark III and 100-400 mm plus 1.4 extender. They’re not super sharp because I forgot my tripod so I was handholding it the whole time and my arms got tired haha.

      Reply
  10. ashfina says

    May 22, 2018

    Sloth tour sounds intriguing. reminds me of Sid from Ice Age 🙂 would certainly take this tour soon.

    Reply
  11. Onyi says

    May 21, 2018

    Another great discovery in Costa Rica, I had just discovered Manzanillo few days ago. Thanks for this post.

    Reply

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