Tapantí National Park: a lush secret in Costa Rica’s valley

WHAT: An excellent day trip from San Jose: a hike in the Tapantí National Park

WHERE: In the heart of Costa Rica, 50 km from San José 

HOW LONG: You need some 5 hours if you want to do all three of the hiking paths (included some time 
for relaxation). The park is open from 8am to 4pm. 

HOW MUCH: ₡800 for nationals, $10,- for foreigners. 

The Tapantí National Park, a green impermeable park 50 km south from San José, is barely known amongst travellers. Most of the tourists go to places such as Poas, Irazu or Manuel Antonio while visiting the country. It’s probably the reason why we have the enormous area pretty much to ourselves this Sunday, apart from somewhat ten Tico families that drive around the park with their iconic picnic boxes looking for a nice spot to relax a bit. 

Since I’ve never read anything about the park I assumed the area would be very difficult to reach and to hike. But nothing of that at all. From the Orosi valley it’s a beautiful ride until you reach the ranger station at the entrance of the national park, which even has a gift shop, restrooms and a nature display.

The rangers gives us a map and next we drive all the way until the end of the 4 km road. Indeed, drive! The layout of the area is very convenient, with three well-marked, short trails on each side of the paved road. At the end of it there’s a lookout, which gives you incredible views of the area. After a 100 meter mossy stairway hike you can see the El Salto waterfall (literally, ‘the jump’) that bursts fiercely out of the mountain in an incredibly green setting. The theme song of Jurassic parks tunes in my head while beholding this natural spectacle. What a delightful and lush environment. 

It’s fascinating to realize that beyond the edge of this mountain you can already find Valle de Dota and the Cerro de la Muerte. So close, yet so far away, since this part of the country is totally isolated with its inaccessible interiors. Tapantí is part of the Talamanca Range that follows all the way into Panama. These mountains are the origin of some 150 rivers and house an incredible amount of animals too. Although the origin is disputed, some think that the name “tapanti” comes from an indigenous word for tapir, which is just one of the many rare animals that reside within the park.

Though it’s not an easy place to see those mammals, the park information tells me that all of the six feline species are to be found here as well, just as sloths, silky anteaters and several kinds of snakes. Better chance you might have with some of the 400 species of birds that are to be seen, like the quetzals, trogons, emerald toucanets, black guans and sparrow hawks. 

Today we only encounter a big frog (the yellow one below; species, anyone?) and a coati with her very cute baby. The coatis dig fiercely into the sidewalks of the road as we drive by, totally ignoring our presence. After the lookout we’re on our way to the nature trails. The Oropendula trail (1,2 km) leads to a swimming area with picnic tables and grills (perfect for a picnic with the family), while the La Parva and Catarata trail (2,5 km) takes you to a couple of waterfalls, the Salto and Palmitas. Those two trails are very easy to hike and have some nice viewing points along the Orosi river. If you want to take a swim, make sure you’re a bit away from the fast-flowing downstream currents. 

And ultimately there’s left the third trail, the “Arboles Caidos” (2-3 km), the toughest of them all. And with tough I mean tough. The heavily forested nature hike goes through varying elevations of rainforest and cloud forest. If you’ve forgotten your repellent, I suggest you might want to skip this hike at all. The blood thirsty mosquitos barely see visitors and clearly you’re their target number one if you drop by; even with a 50% deet odor around your body they stick right through your clothes. I’m still recovering of the bites on my… everywhere.

Well, now that you’ve seen it all you can even prolong your stay in Tapantí. In the interior of the park, La Esperanza de Guarco biological station has dormitory style overnight lodging for up to fifteen visitors. If that’s a bit too much for you, you can also have a meal at the trout fishing farm 300 meters on the right side once you leave the park. For some ₡5000,- you’ll have a great lunch with a fishy on your plate, buen provecho!