The Quetzales National Park is a beautiful protected forest of more than 4,000 ha in the South/Central Mountains region of the country. Just like the name implies, this high-altitude, cloud-forest ecosystem is an important habitat for the rare and beautiful “Quetzal” bird, along with other important bird species. It’s a pleasant place to visit if you are in the area and looking for nice intermediate forest hikes away from the crowds.

The main national park entrance is right off of route 2, and will grant you access to two major trails: “sendero circular” is a nice accessible trail that is completely paved and about 480 meters in length total. This trail is ideal for birdwatching, so arrive early and take your time, if you’re lucky you’ll be able to spot the Quetzal. The second trail, called “Ojo de Agua” trail, is a longer, dirt path through the forest about 2km in length (4km round trip). This is a nice trail for appreciating the splendor of the cloud forest as you observe the lush flora and fauna unique to this ecosystem.

There are some local guides in the area who know exactly where and when to spot the Quetzal, so if this is a bucket-list item then its best to hire a guide so you’ll be more likely to spot one.

Keep in mind that you can also visit other trails in the area that are not associated with the official Nationa Park; for example, if you take the “San Gerardo” road that runs off of route 2 towards San Gerardo de Dota, you will find that there are many lodges on this route that have access to their own private trails. You can also visit the beautiful and wild Rio Savegre Waterfall trail, which you will find on the left-hand side of the road just after you pass the town of San Gerardo de Dota.