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Bogarin Trail – Incredible La Fortuna Sloth Tour and Nature Walk

May 21, 2018 By Sammi 11 Comments

If you are visiting La Fortuna and want to see a sloth, then you must take a guided walk at Bogarin. The Bogarin Trail is one of the best places to see sloths in Costa Rica and it’s a great way to give back to the local community who are working hard to restore the rainforest in the area.

We did this La Fortuna sloth tour with Jacamar Naturalist Tours and saw 6 sloths, toucans, hummingbirds and frogs. It’s one of our favorite things to do in La Fortuna and is perfect for families and travelers of all ages. So if you really want to see a sloth, then you must visit Bogarin!

Location

Bogarin Wildlife Trail in La Fortuna location

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

Trail History

Bogarin Trail La Fortuna
Sloth paradise at Bogarin

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.

Bogarin Trail - La Fortuna sloth tour
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
3 fingered sloth holding a baby
3 fingered sloth mom on Bogarin Trail
3 fingered sloth on the Bogarin sloth watching trail
3 fingered sloth mom on Bogarin Trail
Juvenile 3 fingered sloth seen on the La Fortuna sloth tour
Jacamar Bogarin Trail
Juvenile Jacamar
Red eyed tree frog on Bogarin Trail
Red eyed tree frog
Sloth on Bogarin Trail
Juvenile 3 fingered sloth
Striped basilisk on Bogarin Trail
Striped Basilisk. A rare find since these reptiles aren’t not commonly seen.
Toucans on Bogarin Trail
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. We would have only seen two of the sloths on our own (the ones hugging the tree trunks) as they were out in the open. The other 3 were very high and far back in the trees. Only our guides were able to find them! 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.

Guided Walks Prices and Times

For a self guided walk, the entrance is 5000 colones.

We did this tour with Jacamar Naturalist Tours. It is called Slothies and birdies and costs $55 per adult, $44 per child. If you book a tour, ask for Jairo. We went with him and he is one of our favorite guides in Costa Rica!

Since this walk with Jacamar starts at 8 AM and is 2-2.5 hours, you can combine it with an afternoon activity. You can do the walk in the morning and go ziplining, canyoning, horseback riding or something else in the afternoon. (or vice versa and do the Bogarin trail in the afternoon and other activities in the morning).

If you’d like to do this tour, we have a 7% discount which you can get in the link.

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

Pure Trek 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. 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
  2. Jessica Lawrence says

    February 13, 2020

    Is there parking nearby?

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      February 13, 2020

      Yes they have a small parking area

      Reply
  3. 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
  4. 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, Jairo works for Jacamar Naturalist Tours so if you’d like him as a guide, you have to book the tour through Jacamar or request him as a private guide for the trail. Let me know if you would like to hire him as a private guide, usually how it works is that you will pick him up in your car at the Jacamar office, drive to the trail, he will do the guiding and then you’ll drop him back off afterwards. I can check how much it would be to hire him but if it is during the Christmas season (Dec 15 – Jan 3), they don’t hire out guides so you will have to take a tour.

      Reply
  5. 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
  6. ashfina says

    May 22, 2018

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

    Reply
  7. 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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