Established in 1972, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve has largely been considered as one of Costa Rica’s most treasured places.
This 4,000 hectare (9884 acre) private reserve protects a very delicate and sadly diminishing ecosystem: the tropical cloud forests.
In this post, we will help you plan your visit to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.
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Location
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is about 6 kilometers (3.5 miles) from downtown Santa Elena, a 15 minute drive.
Getting to Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is open every day from 730 AM to 4 PM. This excludes the guided night walk tours, which takes place after sunset at 530 PM.
You can find the reserve on Google Maps as “Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve.”
Driving
A high clearance car is highly recommended in the dry season. A 4×4 is highly recommended in the rainy season.
Dry season months are from December through April. Rainy season months are May through November. Read more about Costa Rica weather here.
Check out our Costa Rica car rental discount to save some $$.
The Visitor Center: Parking and Shuttle
IMPORTANT: All visitors to the cloud forest must check in at the Visitor Center first, in order to enter the reserve. You can purchase reserve tickets here and collect them if you already bought tickets online.
Only exception are those who booked the bird watching or night tour directly with the reserve – they go directly to the reserve entrance.
The dedicated parking lot for Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is at the Harriot Powell Visitor Center, about 1 mile (1.7 km) to the reserve entrance.
This parking lot is in front of Socialtel Monteverde with a sign that says “Official Parking Lot Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve.”
The name of the reserve parking lot on Google Maps is “Parqueo Reserva Monteverde cloud Forest.” This is where every visitor must check in, in order to enter the reserve.
From this parking lot, they will shuttle you to the reserve entrance. The shuttle comes every 15 minutes from 730 AM to 4 PM. Parking costs $5 USD.
Shuttle
From downtown Santa Elena, there is a shuttle you can take if you don’t have your own transportation. Reserve in advance at Monteverde Info Center.
- Santa Elena downtown to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve: 615 AM, 730 AM, 930 AM, 120 PM and 3 PM. Costs $3 USD one way.
- Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve to Santa Elena downtown: 640AM, 830 AM, 11 AM, 2 PM and 4 PM. Costs $3 USD one way.
You can also call a taxi, there are many in town. We also saw a few Ubers.
Public Bus
This is the cheaper option for the public bus.
- Santa Elena downtown to Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve: 6:15 AM, 7:30 AM, 9:30 AM (high season), 1:20 PM and 3 PM.
- Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve to Santa Elena downtown: 6 AM, 830 AM (high season), 2 PM and 4 PM.
- Costs ~700 CRC per way.
If you take the bus or shuttle, they will drop you off at the Visitor Center for you to purchase/collect your ticket and take the inner shuttle to the reserve entrance.
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Park Tickets
Park tickets must be purchased online on the Monteverde Cloud Forest website. They do not offer a day pass anymore, you can only purchase tickets for the trail you want to hike.
You must also choose the time you want to go and you will be not allowed in if you are late.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve trail ticket for foreigners is $29 USD per person and $63 USD per child from 5 to 11 years of age. Children 0-4 are free.
The reserve is open everyday. Each trail has its own hours, with different first and last entry times. There is also a limit to the number of daily visitors and each trail has its own limit.
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Trails
There are three different trails: Essence Trail, Continental Divide and Heart of the Forest Trail.
Continental Divide Trail
The Continental Divide Trail is the longest in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, at 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), taking around 2.5 hours.
We took this trail to go to the viewpoint of the Continental divide, first via Sendero Nubloso to the La Ventana view point.
The trails are very well maintained and outlined and signage is excellent so it’s easy to find your way around.
This trail takes you to the viewpoint of the Continental divide where you can see the Pacific and Caribbean. Sendero Nubloso turns into sendero la Ventana.
The views at Sendero la Ventana are incredible. You can peek over to the side of the trail and look over the entire cloud forest reserve!
This is a view of the Caribbean side overlooking the forests.
This is a view towards the Pacific side.
Along the way, we ran into a couple of coatis on the trail.
About halfway through the trail, there are a lot of steps and it gets a bit steep.
You’ll come upon a short hanging bridge, a nice spot to rest and look around.
The bridge is not super long or high up so if you’re scared of heights, it is not too bad. The view is really nice and it can only hold up to 10 people. Don’t run or jump on the bridge.
Essence Trail
The Essence Trail is the easiest trail in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. It’s only 1.4 kilometers (.9 miles), taking about 1 hour.
This trail is great for those short on time, those who are not big in walking and those with younger kids or older adults with limited mobility.
The trail has really cool and very big ficus trees.
The end of this trail at Sendero Cuecha, has a small but pretty waterfall.
We didn’t see a ton of wildlife since we went by ourselves. We heard a lot of birds, saw a few hummingbirds and ran into a couple coatis.
Heart of the Forest Trail
The second trail is 2.8 kilometers long (1.7 miles) and takes about 1.5 hours. This trail has a little bit of the Continental Divide trail but it does not go to the view point.
It includes the hanging bridge and it is an easy to moderate walk.
Monteverde Cloud Forest Guided Vs Non Guided Walk
You can do either a guided or non guided walk through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.
We have done both and I recommend a guided walk for anyone who wants to learn more about the cloud forest.
If you love trees, orchids, flowers, moss and that kind of nature, definitely book a guided walk.
A guided walk lasts around 2 hours and normally include the park ticket and round trip transportation.
We did a guided walk twice and they were both very interesting and informative. We saw a Resplendant Quetzal on our second guided walk which was really exciting!
Want to book a guided tour? Check out our Monteverde tours booking page to book your cloud forest guided tour, birdwatching, night walk and much more!
On a non-guided walk, we were able to walk a lot more of the reserve all the way to the viewpoints, waterfalls and other points of interest.
I recommend a non-guided self walk through Monteverde if you want to walk as much as possible as your main objective.
Weather
The weather is very comfortable in dry season (December – April) with day timetemperatures in the high 70s° F (25° C). There may be the occasional spring shower.
The driest month is generally February and March. In December and January, it can be very windy.
During the rainy season (May through December), temperatures drop a bit. At night, it may go down to around 14° C (57° F).
It may rain any time of the day during the rainy season. The rainiest month is October.
What to Wear to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
Comfortable walking clothes. We recommend long pants, like long lightweight hiking pants. Yoga pants/leggings can work for women.
Bring a rain jacket shell, no matter what time of year you visit. We always bring our North Face Venture Jackets, just in case.
Good walking shoes or hiking shoes. If you visit during the rainy season, trails may be a bit muddy. Yeison wore his waterproof Salomon trail running shoes. I wore my Salomon hiking shoes.
No sandals, flip flops, adventure sandals.
A hat or visor and sunscreen. In the dry season, it does get very sunny.
Hiking backpack or comfortable walking pack. In the rainy season, make sure your backpack is waterproof or you need to bring a rain cover.
What Else to Know About the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
- There is a cafeteria and bathrooms at the entrance.
- No bathrooms inside the actual reserve on the trails.
- Stay on the trail and do not feed the wildlife.
- Mosquito repellent is not necessary but there are a lot of little gnats.
- If you are late and miss your time slot, they will not let you in.
- If you want to do more than one trail, you have to buy a ticket for each trail.
Other Cloud Forest Reserves in Monteverde
Since there are 3 cloud forest reserves in Monteverde, you may be confused as to which one to visit.
Click here to read our guide comparing Monteverde, Santa Elena and Children’s Eternal Rain Forest or our guide to Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve (great if you don’t want to be around a lot of people).
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Costa Rica Vacation Checklist
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Anne Kessler says
What time to the Guided Tours begin?
Sammi says
Hi Anne, we work with a tour operator in Monteverde and they run two tours to the MOnteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Morning pick up is around 7 AM and afternoon pick up is around 1 PM. They also do a night walk, which starts around 530 PM.
Casey Fields says
How can I buy tickets online in advance for the train ride in Monteverde?
Kindly,
Casey Fields
Sammi says
Hi Casey I am not sure which train ride you are referring to
JH says
I love your blog! The Hubs & I used it when we visited Domenical/Uvita last year, and it was so helpful! This year, we’re spending 1.5 days in Monteverde, then 3-4 days in Nosara. Trying to figure out if we really need 2+ hours doing all those ziplines and dealing with the crowds at Selvatura?? (we did Manuel Antonio guided tour last year so I’m assuming it’s similar vibe?/similar animals?)
How/where else can we hike, do a zipline, walk one or two hanging bridges, and have a more relaxed natural experience? I do want to visit the sloth sanctuary at Selvatura, so we can just tack that on somewhere or visit on our way out of Monteverde the following day?
Sammi says
Selvatura Park isn’t a national park where Manuel Antonio National Park is, and the two places are very different since Selvatura has ziplining, hanging bridges, sloths and a reptile exhibit where as the Manuel Antonio National Park was the national park with hiking trails and beaches. The only places in Monteverde with a zipline and hanging bridges is Selvatura or Treetopia, I believe 100% Aventura also has their own hanging bridges but the first two are higher in elevation and has better views of the cloud forest.
Sarah Williamson says
If I purchased a night tour ticket ($26.00) that starts at 6 pm does that also include the entrance to the preserve, or do I also have to purchase an entrance ticket?
Sammi says
They said it includes the entrance for the night tour only and the guide. If you want to go during the day, you have to then buy the day pass, the night tour price does not include entrance during the day, only for the night tour.