Costa Rica's National Parks, From the Guanacaste Volcanoes to Cocos Island

Created by decree in 1966, Santa Rosa began as a park to protect the site of the 1856 Battle of Santa Rosa. Today it holds about 390 square kilometers of land and a further 426 of marine area, with ten habitats from savanna to mangrove and two Ramsar wetlands.

Established on October 23, 1973, this park protects about 141 square kilometers around the Rincon de la Vieja and Santa Maria volcanoes. Fumaroles and mudpots mark the geothermal activity, and more than 300 bird species live here.

Established in 1978, Palo Verde covers about 184 square kilometers of the Tempisque River valley. Its tropical dry forest and marshlands were designated a Ramsar wetland in 1991, and scarlet macaws and wood storks are among its birds.

Established in 1991, this park is built around Arenal Volcano, which was believed dormant until a destructive eruption in 1968 began a period of activity that ended in December 2010. It protects eight of the twelve life zones found in Costa Rica and also holds Lake Arenal and the older Chato volcano with its crater lagoon.

Established on January 25, 1971 around a 2,700 meter summit, Poas centers on an active main crater 290 meters wide that still produces geysers and gas emissions. The park has closed to visitors at times for safety, and the cold green lake of the dormant Botos crater lies within it.

Established in 1978 near San Jose, this park covers about 476 square kilometers of the Cordillera Central and is more than ninety percent primary forest. It runs from high cloud forest to lowland rainforest and shelters some 600 tree species and over 530 bird species.

Established on August 9, 1955, Irazu covers about 20 square kilometers roughly 24 kilometers from Cartago. Its crater lake changes color over time, and the volcano is still active, having erupted significantly between 1963 and 1965 and again in 1977.

Established on 30 July 1955, this park surrounds a volcano that erupted repeatedly between 1864 and 1868. Renewed activity from 2014 sent ash that temporarily closed the Juan Santamaria International Airport, and the park reopened on 4 December 2020 with a two kilometer safety perimeter around the crater.

Established on August 19, 1975, Chirripo is named for Cerro Chirripo, at 3,821 meters the highest mountain in Costa Rica. The park forms part of the Talamanca Range La Amistad Reserves World Heritage Site, recognized for exceptional biological diversity.

Established in 1972 after the local community moved to conserve the area from development, this small Pacific coast park near Quepos has about 1,983 hectares of land and more than 25,000 hectares of marine waters. Beaches, rocky islands and forest shelter sloths, monkeys and some 184 bird species.

On the southern Caribbean coast in Limon Province, this park protects about 10.7 square kilometers of beach and lowland beside 224 square kilometers of sea. A reef of more than 600 acres holds at least 35 coral species, and sea turtles nest here.

The final stop is a volcanic island of about 23.85 square kilometers, roughly 550 kilometers southwest of the mainland and reached only by a sea voyage of one to two days. A national park since 1978 and a World Heritage Site since 1997, it has no permanent residents apart from rangers and draws divers for its hammerhead sharks and rays.