Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica Travel Guide

Monteverde is a town located in the mountainous area of northwestern Costa Rica. This area is known for the biodiversity of its cloud forests reserve also known as the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. It will astound you with its beauty, bounty, and biodiversity.

One of Costa Rica’s most visited sites, home to one of the rarest habitats on Earth, the cloud forest, and an astounding variety of flora and fauna. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve is unique from Costa Rica’s other rainforests, with a constant mist that looks like clouds and gives the forest its name. The high humidity at this spot, 1,600 meters above the ocean, creates the mist and provides a cloud-like cover.

Eight different biological zones are distinguishable in this moisture-rich environment, which shelters several thousand animal and plant species across its 26,000 acres. The reserve is a bird-lover’s paradise, with more than 500 species; bring your binoculars for a view of the quetzal, whose green plumage contrasts nicely with its red chest and belly, the blue-throated toucanet and the three-wattled bellbird.

Be on the lookout for pumas, monkeys, ocelots and endangered jaguars, as well as the red-eyed tree frog that serves as a Costa Rican icon. Along with the teeming wildlife, the cloud forest offers 420 orchid species and 200 fern species. If you find the Monteverde cloud forest a little busy, the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is its lesser-known neighbor and offers much the same experience. Similar wildlife species are found here as well, including the spider monkey and sloth.