Visiting the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve In Monteverde
The Santa Elena Cloud Forest is a beautiful 765 acre cloud forest reserve with over 8 miles of hiking trails. It’s the lesser visited cloud forest after the Monteverde Reserve, but it’s a bird watcher’s paradise.
I hiked at the Santa Elena Cloud Forest for around 2 hours in Monteverde and I’m glad I did. The reserve is incredibly biodiverse, and surrounded by tons of interesting plants and animals.
This article will cover everything you need to know about visiting the reserve, including updated entrance fees, a list of hiking trails, and more.
Here is a complete guide to visiting the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve.
How To Get To Santa Elena Cloud Forest
The Santa Elena Cloud Forest is 7 km north (around a 20 minute drive) of Santa Elena.
To get there, you can drive any vehicle (no 4×4 required). The roads are well-paved, but there’s a bumpy dirt road right as you approach the reserve. Once you arrive, there’s a large dirt parking lot by the visitor center.
If you don’t want to drive there, you can take a private shuttle from your hotel. The shuttle costs around $4 USD roundtrip, and requires a reservation, which you can make by calling 2645-6332.
The Santa Elena Reserve is open daily from 7am-4pm. Entrance tickets to the reserve were $18/nonresidents when I visited, and there’s no parking fee!
You can buy tickets at the visitor center, which is right at the park’s entrance. Once you buy tickets, you’ll walk past the cafe/dining hall to begin hiking in the reserve.
As soon as I entered, I was surprised to see a group of high school students working on the trails. The reserve is actually maintained by the community and students of Santa Elena High School, so all of the entrance fees go towards supporting their education!
Things To Do In Santa Elena Cloud Forest
Explore The Biodiversity While Hiking
The best thing to do in the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is to explore the diverse flora and fauna.
The reserve is home to over 400 bird species, thousands of plant species, and over 100 mammal and amphibian and reptile species.
I spent over 2 hours hiking in the park, and saw a variety of birds, insects, and unique cloud forest plants. If you want to spot even more wildlife, you can go on a guided hiking tour within the park.
Their tours are run by local guides within the park, and available by reservation on their official website. The tours start at $35/person, and last 2.5 hours.
Climb Up The Observation Tower
A must-see place within the reserve is the 40ft green observation tower. It has a set of metal stairs, and a wide viewing deck where you can see above the clouds.
From the deck, you can see the vast expanse of mountains and valleys in the Tilaran Mountain Range.
To get to the observation tower, you’ll hike the Youth Challenge Trail (green).
This is a 1.4km loop trail (~1 mile) that’s close to the entrance where the observation tower is located. There’s color coded trail markers within the park, so it’s easy to find, and it connects to the rest of the main trails.
Hiking Trails In Santa Elena Cloud Reserve
The four main hiking trails in the park are the Youth Challenge, Sendero Caño Negro, Sendero Del Bajo, and Sendero Encantado trails.
All of these trails are connected to the visitor center by the short Mundo Joven Trail (~0.4 miles).
Throughout the park, there’s many color-coded trail markers and maps, so you don’t have to worry about getting lost.
I first hiked the Youth Challenge trail to see the observation tower, and then began hiking the Del Bajo trail.
The Youth Challenge Trail is a great trail to spot wildlife, and it has a few uphill portions, but it’s relatively short and easy.
The Del Bajo cuts through the middle of the reserve, so there’s no scenic viewpoints (miradors), but there’s many interesting plants.
If you want to see more scenic viewpoints of the clouds, I recommend hiking the Youth Challenge or a portion of the Sendero Caño Negro trail.
The Youth Challenge is an easy, short trail that only takes around 45 minutes to hike. Whereas Sendero Caño Negro is the longest trail in the reserve (3 miles), that can take anywhere from 3-4 hours to hike.
On the way out of the park, I spotted a few birds on a trail close to the entrance.
Although I didn’t see any animals besides birds, the park is home to everything from porcupines to monkeys!
I recommend bringing binoculars, and taking your time hiking if you want to see all of the unique wildlife.
Here’s a summary of the reserve’s main hiking trails:
- Mundo Joven (0.4 miles, 10 min): Short trail that connects the visitor center to the main trails
- Youth Challenge (0.9 miles, 45 min): Loop trail with uphill portions that leads to the observation tower and a scenic viewpoint, great for spotting insects
- Sendero Caño Negro (3 miles, 3.5 hrs): Long trail that runs on the outskirts of the park, with bridges and scenic viewpoints
- Sendero Del Bajo (1.6 miles, 1.5 hrs): Trail that cuts through the middle of the rainforest with streams, great for spotting tropical cloud forest plants
- Sendero Encantado (2 miles, 2.5 hrs): Loop trail on the northern boundary of the reserve with bridges, great for spotting plants.
Go Ziplining At Selvatura
The Selvatura Adventure Park is located only 0.25 miles before the entrance to Santa Elena Cloud Forest.
At Selvatura, you can go on a ziplining tour directly through the cloud forest reserve. Additionally, they have suspension bridges, and a hummingbird and butterfly garden.
Best Time To Visit Santa Elena Cloud Forest
The best time to visit the Santa Elena Cloud Forest is in the morning, when the birds and animals are most active.
If you’re visiting during the rainy season (May-November), there’s often heavy afternoon rains, so early morning is the best time to visit.
Santa Elena vs Monteverde Cloud Forest
The Santa Elena Cloud Forest and Monteverde Cloud Forest are the two most visited cloud forest reserves in town, so it can be hard to decide which one to visit.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest is over 35,000 acres, and has hanging bridges and 11 hiking trails.
The Santa Elena Cloud Forest is only 765 acres, and has 5 hiking trails, with an observation tower and no hanging bridges.
Additionally, tickets to Santa Elena’s reserve are only $18/nonresident (+free parking), whereas Monteverde’s is $26/nonresident (+5 USD parking).
If you want to hike over suspension bridges and get more scenic viewpoints of the valley, I recommend hiking Monteverde Cloud Forest. It’s the most expansive cloud forest, and has more opportunities for spotting wildlife.
But if you want to avoid crowds and spot a variety of interesting birds and plants, the Santa Elena reserve is an excellent alternative.
Santa Elena Cloud Forest FAQs
Do you need a 4×4 vehicle to get to Santa Elena Cloud Forest?
No, you don’t need a 4×4 vehicle to get to the reserve, as most of the road is well-paved. There’s a bumpy dirt road on the last few miles leading up to the reserve, but it’s very doable without a 4×4 vehicle.
How long should you spend in the cloud forest?
I spent 2 hours hiking in the Santa Elena Cloud Forest to see the observation tower, and explore the diverse flora and fauna in the rainforest.
But, you can easily spend 3-4 hours if you’re hiking one of the longer trails, and taking your time to spot wildlife.
Does Santa Elena Cloud Forest have hanging bridges?
No, Santa Elena doesn’t have hanging bridges, but it has small bridges, and an observation tower.
The 40 ft metal observation tower is located at the highest point in the reserve, and has an excellent view of the mountains and valleys above the clouds.
If you want to walk over the iconic red/green hanging bridges in the clouds, you’ll want to visit the Monteverde Cloud Forest instead.
Summary
The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve was the most beautiful and unique place I visited while in Monteverde.
If you love birdwatching and seeing interesting plants and insects, it’s well worth a visit. It is also cheaper, less-touristy than the Monteverde Cloud Forest, and all proceeds from the entrance tickets go to supporting the local high school!
And for more ideas on what to do in town, make sure to check out our list of 11 unique things to do in Monteverde!
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