Santa Rosa National Park is one of Costa Rica's most important historic areas, in addition to serving as a popular destination for nature lovers and surfers. The ranch house, known as "La Casona", and the stone corrals witnessed the nation's greatest heroic deed: the Battle of Santa Rosa, which took place on March 20th, 1956. These historical sights are located just to the left after reaching the parks main entrance; on the upper level. A short walk from the camping area brings you to this very photographic location. For the adventurous, a short climb up a nearby tower offer terrific views of the surrounding area.
A challenging dirt road, which departs from the main area near the camp grounds, arrives at the beautiful Nancite and Naranjo beaches, both of which are major nesting grounds for the olive ridley, leatherback and pacific green sea turtles. Nancite is where the largest "arribadas" of olive ridley turtles in Tropical America come ashore. While the Naranjo beach is open to the public, Nancite beach requires special permits, particularly during the time the olive-ridley turtles are nesting.
Within the park there are ten habitats, including savannas, consisting of jaragua grassland and various trees such as the live oak, shoemaker's tree and rough-leaf tree, among others. The deciduous forests contain some 240 species of trees and shrubs; among them Costa Rica's National Tree, the Guanacaste or ear tree, gumbo-limbo and mayflower. In the evergreen forests the dominant species are locust, chicle, oak, tempisque and bitterwood.
The fauna is rich and diverse as well. More than 155 species of mammals have been identified, more than half of which are bats. There are also 253 species of birds, 100 of amphibians and reptiles, and over ten thousand types of insects, including some 3,140 species of butterflies and moths. The most conspicuous mammals are the howler monkey and whitefaced monkeys, armadillo, white tailed deer, white-nosed coati, collared peccary, raccoon and the spiny pocket mouse, which is the most abundant of all. Some of the birds found include the magpie jay, orange-fronted parakeet, elegant trogan, rufous-naped wren, crested caracara, great curassow, common black hawk and long-tailed manakin.
Special Considerations
Near the upper camping grounds, there is a
short nature trail ( Indio Desnudo ) just
before the Santa Rosa National Monument. This
trail provides the best opportunities within
the park to view wildlife, particularly in
the early morning or late afternoon hours.
Deer, howler, spider and white-faced monkeys,
lizards and hawks are quite common. Light
levels are low, but there are good photographic
opportunities on this trail. There are several
trails near the main office, as well as along
the road heading south to the beach area.
Trails are present around the beach area as
well, many of which are located behind the
estuary. Camping is permited, however, only
in the designated areas, not along any of
the trails. Maps are available at the park
office which do an adequate job of detailing
the areas of interest.
The water level available throughout the upper campground area is potable. However, if you proceed to the beach area below, bring all the supplies necessary as it is common to have no water available at the lower campgrounds. Any water is utilized for bathing and cooking only.
How To Get There
Bus - You can take a direct bus to Liberia, which
departs San Jose eight times daily, and later catch a connecting
bus which will pass by the entrance to the
park along the Pan American Highway. There
are several buses which depart daily from
Liberia and pass the Santa Rosa National Park.
The direct bus to Liberia takes approximately
four hours and they normally run close to
schedule.
Let the driver know, with sufficient notice, that you would like to be dropped off at the entrance to the park. The distance from the drop-off point to the main camping area is approximately 7 km ( 4.35 miles ) on a hot, paved and open road. We recommend that you purchase a good supply of fluids before departing either San Jose or Liberia. Upon your arrive at the park entrance, there is no fluid available until you reach the main camping area. Along the entrance road, there are two vistas on the right side which provide spectacular views and a well deserved resting spot.
Car - Just continue north along the Panamerican Highway from Liberia until you reach the Park's entrance on the left side of the road. The road from the main, upper level camping area down to the beach is at times restricted even in the dry season. We highly recommend a strong, four-wheel drive vehicle as this long, steep, pothole filled dirt road is treacherous and at times impassable.
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