A Hillside Trail Through Monteverde’s Cloud Forest Reserve

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve sits along the Cordillera de Tilarán in Costa Rica's Puntarenas Province, straddling the Continental Divide at elevations between about 1,440 and 1,800 meters. The Tropical Science Center, a Costa Rican nonprofit, has managed the reserve since its founding in 1972, when it was established to protect one of the region's last large tracts of primary cloud forest. The reserve spans roughly 10,500 hectares and supports more than 2,500 plant species, including over 400 types of orchids. Trails like this one allow hikers to move between the reserve's open pasture edges and its denser forest interior while keeping foot traffic confined to a defined route.

Taken February 2019