Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike
Overview
This amazing old growth cloud forest, rescued from the threat of mining during the 1970s by a visiting scientist and resident Quakers, retains a unique ecosystem found nowhere else in the world. This region, believed to have the highest density of orchids on earth, with over 500 species of exotic birdlife, over 100 species of reptiles, and hosting animal life from both North and South America, is the crown jewel of Nature reserves in Costa Rica. Your naturalist guide, with years of experience and daily observations, will introduce you to a realm reminiscent of prehistoric times.
You’ll begin setting out on trails carefully inlaid with latticed bricks due to the ground moisture from the heavy mist coming in from the Caribbean. You’ll be surrounded by over 755 species of trees covered with bromeliads, orchids and other flowering epiphytes. These tall giants and their elaborate root systems are home to all the flora and fauna in the forest. Under this canopy, you’ll be in an enchanted woodland where temperatures range between 60 and 65 degrees throughout the year.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is not only a corridor for combining wild life from both North and South America; it also sits high up on the continental divide. This unusual climate zone joins the weather systems of the Caribbean, bringing the dense moisture creating the clouds, with the dryer Pacific air currents. These contrasting climate and geographical features bring an abundance of diverse plant and animal life living together in an extraordinary forest environment.
Thanks to your guide, you will likely see a myriad of camouflaged insects that chances are you would not have seen on your own. With clever disguises they attach themselves to leaves and bark in incredible patterns blending in to avoid being discovered by their predators. You may come across a snake or a tarantula as well.
Way up in the branches you’ll hear a variety of bird calls. Your experienced guide will identify which bird you are hearing and together you’ll follow the sound with hopes of seeing the bird through your guide’s powerful spotting scope. Be sure to bring along binoculars! If you would like, your guide can set up your camera to take a photo through the magnified lens of the scope.
Every day is different so there is no way to tell what you may or may not see on any given day, but you will be seeing and learning about a variety of forest life. With luck, you may encounter one of the mammal species such as a coatimundi, anteater, or maybe a group of monkeys. You will also visit a beautiful waterfall.
Hiking back out of the woods you can stop to visit the hummingbird garden where you’ll be surrounded by the antics of these aerial acrobats as they drink nectar from flowers and feeders. This half day tour into the unique habitat of Monteverde’s cloud forest will hopefully leave you inspired by the scope of nature’s diversity and the need to protect this rare endangered environment.
This tour includes round trip transportation from your lodging in Monteverde, park admission and naturalist guide.
What to Bring
- Insect Repellent
- Binoculars
- Camera
- Closed Toe Hiking Shoes
- Sun Block
- And Rain Gear
Location and Availability
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike is available from Monteverde
Tour Times
- 8:00am
- 1:00pm
Tour Type
- Nature
- Learning Family
- Hiking
- Birding
- Wildlife Hike
Cancellation Policy
Recommended Ages
All Ages
Location
Latitude: N 10° 18' 11.15"
Longitude: W 84° 47' 45.4"
Reviews
- Overall 90.8% (208 Guest Ratings)
- Experience: 89.5%
- Expectations: 88.9%
- Guides: 92.4%
- Logistics: 92.6%
- Value: 90%
08/05/2023
The walk was fine. The kids were impatient. We didn't see a lot during the hike but after at the hummingbird café we saw many white faced monkeys. That was fun.
08/02/2023
We found it interesting.
04/23/2023
Our guide was amazing! Knowledgeable, kind and tactful. There were difficult clients on the tour and our guide handled them with tact and respect. The tour was too short and we never saw the bridge. There were no clouds, but that is out of your control - the whether was spectacular during our entire stay ??
01/01/2023
Beautiful cloud forest
12/12/2022
Excellent guide. saw many animals.
12/02/2022
Best for flora not fauna. Bring layers as is cooler in the mountains.
07/17/2022
Saw little wildlife except quetzal bird (that was a find), and no clouds and we went early morning ☹️
05/19/2022
Saw the quetzals but not much else. Kevin was good
02/27/2020
Fantastic!
01/20/2020
Carlos was terrific.
01/14/2020
We got to see a quetzal which was a thrill!
01/04/2020
Very crowded and guide did not say a lot of extra information that other guides would say.
01/02/2020
Wait time a bit long for guide to purchase tickets but Dennis our guide was excellent!
12/11/2019
This was mostly a bird tour. Was kind of disappointed in that. Although we did get to see a quetzal (we didn’t even know that was a big thing). Our guide was extremely knowledgeable in birds. We just very quickly lost interest. Should mention that this is mostly a bird tour in the description. Cool waterfall! Nice easy walk.
11/25/2019
Had a very good experience with the guides - Alberto and Carlos
08/14/2019
Tour guide was very good however we were unlucky with the weather and did not see much. Luck of the draw :-)
08/06/2019
One of the most gorgeous place I´ve ever seen
08/02/2019
Saw quetzals! So cool!
07/24/2019
Very nice tour. The guide knew his surroundings and taught us all sorts of things. I rated it a 9 only because we prefer rigor.
07/10/2019
Loved this tour with Carlos as our guide. It took a bit of time to get underway, about a quarter of the time was spent within 10 m of the entrance, but there was lots to see and Carlos was particularly good at spotting birds and making sure we had seen them too. It would be good to let people know that the entrance ticket is good for the whole day. We wouldn't have made plans for the afternoon if we'd known that staying on was an option.
04/13/2019
Our guide Carlos was very knowledgeable and passionate about all the plants and animals in the Cloud Forest. The tour was a wonderful experience.
02/05/2019
For birds and wildlife, not to be missed!
12/29/2018
This was a highlight of our trip!!! The tour company and the guide were terrific.
12/26/2018
Again, a great guide. All of the guides were very knowledgeable and patient with our stupid questions. I am still not sure if the sloth wasn't just a round ball of moss - but I will take the guide's word for it. And yet again you provided a sunny day.
11/17/2018
this was basically too similar to the hanging bridges, but without the bridges. a nice walk though.
12/13/2017
we had hoped to see more wildlife.
11/16/2017
Very interesting and beautiful. Got to see a Quetzal!
08/17/2017
It rained really hard that morning, so the hike was delayed and then uneventful.
07/29/2017
Nature is certainly stunning. But so many people that it removed from the nature experience
05/15/2017
Our guide was very knowledgable about the rainforest and we even were able to spot a quetzal and a quetzal chick! Amazing!
03/12/2017
We saw a Quetzal! Our guide was so great with us and especially patient with 3 year old Max, who idolized him!
03/06/2017
Not much too see. The guide had good information about the plants.
02/24/2017
Hummingbird exhibit was good to see as well; managed to get many good photos.
02/12/2017
Alberto was an amazing guide. Very knowledgeable and helpful. Exceptional!!!
02/08/2017
We waited an hour for our ride back to the hotel. Wanted to walk around the forest more but our guide would not allow us. Felt we could have gotten more out of this experience. Very crowded and not as informative.
01/28/2017
Excellent guide with a plethora of information. Genuinely cared about the tourist's experience. AAA+
01/16/2017
Wonderful guide. Not as much wildlife as other tours but still interesting.
01/12/2017
Another amazing tour guide so knowledgeable and fun and the place is really excellent
01/01/2017
Our transportation did not pick us up and we had to have the hotel call the travel agency. Once we got to the cloud forest we actually lucked out because we had an amazing tour guide. He was definitely the best and most knowledgeable guide we had. His name was Jean Carlo, he was an independent guide.
12/31/2016
Limited wildlife.
12/15/2016
This was a great tour of a great location. Our guide was superb. Would recommend it to anyone.
11/28/2016
Guides were very knowledgeable. We did not see much and the walk was shorter than I expected. We stayed longer and went on a hike on our own. The guides were very helpful with those logistics.
08/12/2016
Excellent tour and guide!
07/11/2016
Our guide was FANTASTIC. Very knowledgeable and helpful. Loved this hike!
03/03/2016
It was okay. We went very early (we had been told we had a better chance of seeing animals earlier in the day), but we ended up only seeing some birds. We saw monkeys in the parking lot and hummingbirds at the coffee shop, so we joked that we should have just sat in the car instead of going on the hike :)
02/29/2016
Our guide was wonderful and very knowledgeable.
02/17/2016
we saw quetzals! Our guide was very informative. Really enjoyed our hike.
01/29/2016
all i saw were birds. i was hoping to see a monkey or something else besides birds.
08/11/2015
The cloud forest was unique. We only saw one or two animals, but we learned a lot about the forest and the various flora within. The hanging bridge in the clouds was pretty cool.
07/02/2015
This tour was only about an hour and was very repetitive from the two tours preceding it. One of my sons was sick so was not in the best state to stop and listen and look at things he had seen before. We could have walked through the reserve by ourselves and then visited the hummingbirds which we liked. I would have rather gone on a tour of the cheese factory. We arranged for ourselves a tour of el trapeche coffee, chocolate and sugar farm that morning and loved it but it may have been too much to do two tours on one day. Also the guide's English was not great and he just stopped to show us animals and plants.I would have loved info on Costa Rican life and people.I dont think he asked us to fill out an evaluation either.
02/24/2015
Think we saw more birds at our hotel. Had a spicy potato pastry at coffee shop that was almost made me walk up there for another. Again, think this is something we could have done, and would rather have done, on our own.
02/19/2015
Tour guide right on time, we had a private tour. He was friendly and knowledgeable. It was fantastic
02/15/2015
No words to describe it. Guide was knowledgeable, well spoken, the entire hike was beyond description.
02/05/2015
This was a fun tour. We were the only ones on the tour and the guide took great efffort to show us wildlife and teach us about the forest. Great experience.
12/31/2014
Fabulous!
12/21/2014
The guide found many animals we couldn't see and was very knowledgeable.