Crossing the Canopy Walkway at Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve maintains a network of suspension bridges designed to let visitors cross ravines and move through the forest canopy rather than only along the ground. The reserve itself protects roughly 10,500 hectares of primary forest across the Tilarán mountain range, land set aside since 1972 largely through the efforts of Quaker settlers and conservation groups. Elevations within the reserve range from about 1,400 to over 1,800 meters, conditions that keep the forest in near-constant mist and support the dense epiphyte growth seen along the trail corridors. The bridges give researchers and tourists alike access to the upper forest strata, where much of the reserve's biodiversity — including many of its orchid and bird species — is concentrated.