La Reserva Bosque Nuboso Santa Elena

Really fantastic set of trails! Well maintained and a nice easy 2 hour hike. We did the blue trail, part of the yellow, and part of the green in about 2-2.5 hours. We are all hikers and in average hiking shape. We did not go with a guide but it was still beautiful! It was wet and rainy and lots of clouds 🥰 got a little muddy and get wet but I wore my hiking water shoes. Bring a rain coat, shoes you don't care getting wet and snacks and water (also a waterproof backpack or backpack rain cover). We didn't see much wildlife, a few birds and bird calls, but lots of plants! 100% you need to climb the lookout tower! Magical! Also a local school/college maintains the reserve and use it for scientific purposes!

Our private guide, Lucia, was very nice and knowledgeable. It is a beautiful forest environment. We did not see a lot of wildlife, but that just happens sometimes. We did get a good scope view of a tarantula. Our tour started at eight in the morning and the trails were not busy. You might have to start a little earlier to see much wildlife. Note that the road to get there is very, very rough and takes about 25 minutes from the town.

The first time I walked into the cloud forest, it felt so magical. The trail is covered with wood chips, making it comfortable to walk on while keeping the natural scenery wild. The air is very humid, so it’s best to wear a raincoat. One thing I really liked was the wooden signs along the way, giving reminders on how to interact with the forest—like listening to its sounds or staying in peace. It’s definitely worth spending a whole day exploring!

Absolutely beautiful park. It felt so moody and magical. Unlike any other place I've hiked before. We didn't come across too many people.

The observatory on the Youth Challenge trail is an absolute must-see. In good weather conditions, you’ll get an amazing view of the surrounding area and the Arenal Volcano. The trail is well marked and easy to follow. I visited the park at the opening hour and, besides at the information center, I did not see anyone else on the trail. Halfway through I even managed to spot monkeys jumping across the trees.

Beautiful! Saw very few other people there while hiking. Easy to follow trails thru the cloud forest, sound of rain falling, misting, birds - was recommended over Monteverde as less crowded quiver option and was perfect!

Compared to other hikes we did in CR, this one wasn't my favorite. The parking lot is on a smaller side, so get there early to get a spot. Certain parts of the trail could be marked better and some trails were even closed. The trails have you coming one way in, one way out, so if you are trying to do parts of a trail to get to another, you are going to be going in the "opposite" direction. The exit of the red trail has a huge sign that says not to enter but I personally don't understand why. We ended up doing the loop but back tracking to start at the correct spot. The view from the top of the observation deck was really the only highlight of the hike so I feel I could have missed out on this hike, and would have been totally OK with it. If going on the red trail and there was recent rain, you are going to be a super muddy mess as the trail is rather undeveloped. The blue, red, yellow, and brown trails were not difficult compared to other done in CR. There were no extremely steep parts and there was nice gradual changes when going up or down.

There are five types of trails to choose from, with varying the length and time. We took the blue trail - the advertised time was 2.5 hours but we finished in one hour. We do walk faster than average people though. We went on a rainy day. The trails weren’t particularly muddy because they were paved with small rocks. It could be slippery at some parts because of the wet fallen leaves on the ground. The park felt less maintained compared to the other cloud forest parks. Some signs were a bit confusing. They could have put more signs along the trails to indicate where people are at the entire journey. Overall it was an easy hike. There weren’t more exciting things to see other than immersing yourself in the cloud forest. Ticket is USD 18.