Corcovado National Park
From Wiki Costa Rica
Corcovado National Park is located in the Península de Osa, in the south part of the province of Puntarenas. It has an extension of 41 thousand Hectares.
Researchers have identified 13 different ecosystems within the park. It has several types of forests: mountain forest, plains forest, beach forest, swamps and others.
Corcovado well represents the rain forest: it rains 3800mm to 5500mm every year.
There are paths, restrooms, drinking water, camping sites, showers.
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History
The park was created in 1977 during the presidency of Daniel Oduber. Prior to its creation, its natural abundance was already known thanks to studies made by scientists of the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) and other science institutions. Nonetheless, it was nearly impossible in those years nor in the following ones to create the park, because of several reasons: the large distance from the capital, making it hard to manage; other parks priorities (Santa Rosa National Park,Manuel Antonio National Park and Tortuguero National Park); and economic problems of the National Park Service.
Geography
The plains in the coastal areas were formed a million years ago and it's surrounded by a mountainous range of volcanic and sedimentary rocks formed 45 to 136 million years ago. What amazes most the tourists that fly into the park are the plains, swamps and mountain areas, each one with very different plant life. There is a lake called Laguna Corcovado inside the park.
Along the river Claro, towards the south part of the park, gold was foun in the 1930s. This event caused a gold rush, which would eventually threaten the park.
Plant life
Almost half of the park is mountainous forest, with most trees being taller than 50m. These have diameters of almost 2 meters. In every hectare, there are almost 100 different species of trees. The rest of the park is composed of plains forest, which has different plant life depending on the water saturation of the soil. It has been estimated that Corcovado has at least 500 different species of trees, almost 25% of all trees species in Costa Rica.
Animal life
Animal life is as diverse as plant life in Corcovado. There are 285 species of birds, 139 species of mammals, 116 of amphibians and reptiles, 16 species of freshwater fish, and between 5000 and 10000 species of insects.
The tucan are very common and can be seen near the rivers. Sea turtles, such as Carey, Baula, Lora and Green species, nest frequently in the beaches, particularly La Llorona beach. They come almost all year-long, but come to nest especially in September. Prior to the creation of the National Park, domestic pigs were the main threat to their nests.
A former head of the park, Alberto Salas, documented in 1976-1978, the arrival of whales to Puerto Rocha (at the Llorona region). These groups were composed of up to 25 individuals. Its species could not be identified by Salas, though.
Cost and working hours
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Cost: Adults $7 |
| Open hours: 8.00 - 16:00. This park is not gated, it is recommended to inform of your visit to the office personnel. |
Gallery of Photos
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100% Details
| Corcovado Vieja National Park | |
| Region | Puntarenas |
| Telephone | (506) 735-5036 |
| Address | Travel through Golfito-Puerto Jiménez by boat, take bus to La Palma, and walk to the "Los Patos" station. |
| lbarquer@minae.go.cr | |
| Website | |
Corcovado Vieja National Park in Google Maps |
| Latitude and longitud for GPS: 8.515836, -83.496094 To use Google Earth, cut and paste the coordinates into the search bar. You can also open this location with Maps.Google.com |
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