Northwestern Costa Rica - Santa Rosa National Park Parque Nacional Santa Rosa

Established in 1971, Santa Rosa National Park is one of the oldest in Costa Rica. The park covers 37,117ha/91,679ac of land on almost the entire Santa Elena Peninsula, which juts into the Pacific Ocean at the far northwestern corner of Costa Rica. Not only does this park feature some of the best camping facilities in the country, it is also protects the nesting sites of several sea turtles and includes some attractive beaches.

Several hiking trails through the park offer sightings of over 250 bird species and 115 species of mammals and reptiles including monkeys, snakes and iguanas. The Indio Desnudo trail is marked and offers explanations of the surroundings, and petroglyphs can be spotted etched into the rocks. Bats are commonly spotted at dusk, and insects are abundant. There are 4,000 species of moths and butterflies alone.

Santa Rosa National Park offers the largest remaining tropical dry forest in all of Central America. Other habitats include savanna woodland, oak forest, evergreen forest, mangrove swamps, riparian forest and coastal woodlands. This park is part of the Guanacaste Conservation Area, which has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On March 20, 1856, a historic battle was fought at the Hacienda Santa Rosa between an amateur Costa Rican army and the invading American, William Walker. It is for this historic battle and site that the park was named after. The old hacienda was standing and operating as La Casona, a small historical museum. In May of 2001, the building was destroyed by arson set by angry poachers. The culprits were caught and are now serving a jail sentence.