Costa Rica National Parks Travel Guides

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Costa Rica has 27 national parks, 58 wildlife refuges, 30 protected zones and many private reserves.

Because of this, nearly 25% of the land in Costa Rica is protected. So naturally, all visitors want to include at least 1 national park in their itinerary for hiking, nature and wildlife watching.

Below you will find our national park, private reserves and wildlife refuges guides we have been to.

What You Will Find in These Costa Rica National Parks Guides

Our personal experiences

These articles aren’t just guides, you’ll read about our personal experience at each one including what we thought, when we visited and our recommendations for things to know before you go, what to wear and more.

All the guides have photos and some have a video of our day there so you can see what it’s like.

Location and how to get there

All the articles include the Google Maps of the park and directions how to get there by driving and by bus (if applicable).

Entrance fees and hours

Find out when the parks are open and how much the entrance fee is for Costa Rican residents and foreigner adults and children.

What you can do in the park

Each park has their own special attraction. Find out what each one is famous for and what you can do in the park.

Hiking trails, beaches, view points, wildlife, etc.

If the national park has hiking trails, you will find maps and pictures of hiking trails. If there are beaches, you’ll see photos of the beaches. And for wildlife, you will see the different animals you can see in the park.

Tours to the national parks

How you can visit the national park on a tour, recommended companies and prices.

I’ll be updating this post Costa Rica national parks so check back often!

Arenal Volcano National Park

Barra Honda National Park

Baru National Wildlife Refuge

Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge

Cahuita National Park

Caño Island Biological Reserve

Carara National Park

Children’s Eternal Rain Forest

Cocos Island National Park

Corcovado National Park San Pedrillo Station

Corcovado National Park: Sirena Station

Curi-Cancha Reserve

Hacienda Baru Wildlife Refuge

Iguanita Wildlife Refuge

Irazu Volcano National Park

La Marta Wildlife Refuge

Los Quetzales National Park

Manuel Antonio National Park

Marino Ballena National Park

Miravalles Volcano National Park

Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve

Ostional Wildlife Refuge

Palo Verde National Park

Playa Hermosa Wildlife Refuge

Poas Volcano National Park

Rincon de la Vieja National Park

Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve

Tenorio Volcano National Park (Rio Celeste)

Tortuguero National Park

Turrialba Volcano National Park

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6 responses

  1. Terry

    Got to say that the road into the National Park is a bust. Tiny sign 100 yards from the main road and scraped the undercarriage of my rental car. Would not recommend this to anybody. I guess they don’t get the concept of a bulldozer scraping the road.

    Reply
    1. Sammi

      Hi Terry, which national park was it?

      Reply
  2. John Davis

    Hi: Any info on Guanacaste National Park? The info from Sinac and ACG is pretty sketchy.
    Thanks,
    John Davis

    Reply
    1. Sammi

      Unfortunately no, from what I understand and have read, this park is not open to tourists, it was created for biologists, scientists and researchers. You can visit Rincon de la Vieja National Park though which is right next to it.

      Reply
  3. Sammi

    Hi Luz, you can do mud baths in Rincon. The adventure parks have mud baths such as Guachipelin and Buena vista. You can read our posts on Rincon de la vieja. Our favorite is Guachipelin.

    Reply
  4. Luz Noel

    Hi is there a mud bath in one of the trails

    Reply
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