AT A GLANCE
Why go?
La Amistad International Park is Costa Rica's largest protected area and its only binational park, stretching across the Talamanca mountain range and continuing into Panama. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, this vast wilderness protects ecosystems ranging from lowland rainforest to páramo and alpine peatlands, sheltering extraordinary biodiversity with many species found nowhere else on Earth.↗↗↗
With a network of trails spanning from gentle 2 km walks through primary forest to demanding multi-day summit ascents, the park rewards visitors with pristine nature, panoramic views of both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, and the chance to connect with the Bribri and Cabécar indigenous communities that surround its edges.↗↗
A Park Like No Other
La Amistad — "friendship" in Spanish — was born from the shared vision of Costa Rica and Panama to protect the Talamanca mountain range that forms the spine of both countries. Created in 1982 by executive decree in Costa Rica, the park encompasses 199,147 hectares on the Costa Rican side and 207,000 on the Panamanian side, making it the largest tropical forest-covered mountain system in Central America.
