Sunset Over the Tilarán Mountains Near Monteverde

The Tilarán Mountains form the continental divide that runs through the Monteverde region, separating Caribbean-draining slopes from those facing the Pacific. Monteverde's cloud forest sits at elevations between roughly 1,400 and 1,800 meters, where moisture-laden trade winds condense into the persistent mist that defines the ecosystem. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve, established in 1972 by the Tropical Science Center, protects more than 10,500 hectares of this habitat and borders the adjacent Children's Eternal Rainforest, one of the largest private reserves in Central America. The region's elevation and position along the divide create the shifting light and layered haze that mark the transition between day and night over the forest canopy.

Taken February 2019