Central Valley & Adjacent Highlands

As the popular English name suggests, the "Central Valley" covers the central region of Costa Rica. Surrounding the national capital city of San José, the Central Valley is bounded by the Cordillera Central mountain range in the north and east and the Cordillera de Talamanca to the south. The western edge of the Valley falls off into the Pacific lowlands. The highlands surrounding the Central Valley include the famous Poás and Irazú Volcanoes and the Reventazón River Valley that are often visited as day excursions from San José and other larger cities in the area.

This region has been an important agricultural zone since thousands of Native farmers cultivated the land before the arrival of the Spanish. The first Spanish to settle