Costa Rica Guide
The Valle Central and the highlands
Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo
The PARQUE NACIONAL BRAULIO CARRILLO (8am–4pm; $7; 
268-1030), 15km northeast of Heredia, covers 325 square kilometres of virgin rain- and cloudforest, but still draws few visitors on account of its sheer size and lack of facilities. Most tourists experience the majestic views of cloud and foliage only from the window of a bus on their way to the Caribbean coast. The park is named after Costa Rica's third, and rather dictatorial, chief of state, who held office in the mid-1800s. It was established in 1978 to protect the land from the possible effects of the Guápiles Highway, then under construction between San José and Limón, a piece of intelligent foresight without which this whole stretch of countryside might have been turned into a solid strip of gas stations and motels.
Even when only seen from the highway, Braulio Carrillo's dense forested cover gives you a good idea of what much of Costa Rica used to look like about fifty years ago, when approximately three-quarters of the country's total terrain was virgin rainforest. The rare and shy quetzal has been sighted in the higher altitudes of the park, as have toucans, trogons and eagles, while large mammals such as the jaguar and ocelot skulk in the dense undergrowth. In addition, Braulio Carrillo is one of the few places in the country where the bushmaster (matabuey), Central America's largest venomous snake, makes its home, along with the equally poisonous fer-de-lance (terciopelo).
The park has three staffed puestos, one at Volcán Barva and the others on the main Guápiles Highway at Zurqui (7am-4pm; $6; 268-1038), just before the Zurqui Tunnel, and at Quebrada Gonzalez, 2km east of the Sucio River bridge. You'll find picnic facilities and well-marked trails leading from the puestos into the forest. There's no accommodation within this section of the park except for a camping area (with toilets and running water) and very basic huts at the Volcán Barva puesto ($2 per person). The two huts can sleep up to four people each, although there are no mattresses on the beds.