Santa Rosa National Park Entrance     

not only protects the little remaining tropical dry forest, but promotes its regeneration. This park encompasses almost every ecosystem that exists in Guanacaste. Part of the park was a large tract of pastureland, overgrazed and biologically bankrupt, where biologists have applied research findings about how forests propagate themselves. You will see, from the lush greenery as you drive in, that these methods have worked very well. Seeds for forest regeneration are primarily carried by the wind and by mammals and birds who eat seeds and then defecate in treeless pastures. Poles stuck into barren pastures encourage this kind of seed dispersal. By burning fire lanes to control the spread of wildfires, the scientists are allowing the dry forest to renew itself. The latest addition to the park, by the way, includes the location of the clandestine airstrip that figured in the Iran-Contra fiasco. The North American owner of this land won a legal dispute with the Costa Rican government over the expropriation that made it part of the park, and was paid $22 million for the property. This part of the park is closed.The three times that Costa Rica has been attacked by military, the invaders were defeated at the Hacienda Santa Rosa’s Casona (big house) which is now a museum (open 8 a.m.to 4 p.m). Near the museum is a trail you can follow for a short natural-history jaunt.

There is camping (minimal fee) in a central area of Santa Rosa, with water, toilets, showers, and nice big shade trees. The ranger will tell you which parts of the park are especially rich in wildlife at the moment.   ©



phone: (506)2679-9692 fax 2666-5020


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