Costa Rica’s Lesser-Known Juan Castro Blanco Park Prepares for Tourists

Construction is underway on new visitor facilities at Juan Castro Blanco National Park, a lesser-known protected area in northern Costa Rica, as officials work toward opening part of the park to tourists for the first time under a formal visitor program. The project is taking shape in the Volcán Viejo area, near in the canton of Sarchí. Plans include a visitor entrance, ticket office, cafeteria, souvenir shop, parking area and a nature trail designed to accommodate people with disabilities. Recent photographs show work underway on the foundations of visitor facilities and improvements to the planned trail, as the construction marks another step in a project intended to make one of Costa Rica’s less accessible national parks available to a wider range of visitors. The centerpiece of the project is a sensory nature trail that will allow visitors to experience the forest through sounds, scents and touch. The idea is to create an outdoor experience that children, older adults and people with disabilities can enjoy without facing many of the obstacles found on traditional hiking trails. Plans call for an approximately 80-meter (262-foot) accessible walkway, five sensory viewing and rest areas, a lookout overlooking a river, safety railings, benches and signs designed for visitors with different accessibility needs. The nonprofit organization ProParques has been working with private companies and local partners to develop the project. Part of that effort involves collecting discarded plastic bottle caps and recycling them into durable plastic lumber for accessible walkways and other facilities. The initiative is part of a broader effort to make Costa Rica’s national parks more inclusive while reducing plastic waste. The work is expected to create a new attraction in Bajos del Toro, an area already known for its waterfalls, mountains and nature tourism. Much of the region’s tourism activity takes place on privately owned land, making the planned national park facilities a potentially important addition for travelers interested in exploring public protected areas. Juan Castro Blanco National Park covers approximately 14,308 hectares (35,356 acres) and forms part of the Arenal Huetar Norte Conservation Area. The park protects mountain forests, rivers and natural springs that supply water to communities across northern and western Costa Rica.Water conservation is one of the park’s principal purposes. Its forests also provide habitat for wildlife, including pumas, jaguars and numerous other species. The park’s management plan, updated last year, calls for expanding sustainable tourism while maintaining protection of its forests and water resources. Work on the sensory trail was already progressing in September, when park staff, ProParques and Café Britt collaborated on improvements that included drainage work, stone placement and adjustments to the trail’s route. For travelers hoping to visit, however, an important distinction remains: the park is not yet officially open for regular tourism. Costa Rica’s National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) continues to list Juan Castro Blanco as closed to tourist visitation. Although earlier project announcements had suggested a September 2026 opening, that date has passed without the facilities opening to the public.No new official opening date has been announced, and visitors should not assume the park is accessible simply because construction is underway. Once the work is completed and the Volcán Viejo area formally opens, Juan Castro Blanco could give travelers another way to explore Costa Rica’s mountain forests while making a national park experience available to people who cannot easily use conventional hiking trails.