Costa Rica celebrates National Parks Day

Entry to all Costa Rican national parks is free today for National Parks Day.

The holiday, celebrated every Aug. 24 since 1986, commemorates the creation of the national parks system. Aside from free entry to national parks, schools across the country also commemorated national parks with activities throughout the week.

The National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) also recognized its park rangers this morning with an event at Rincón de la Vieja National Park (but not everyone participated).

When the holiday started, there were 14 national parks across the country. Now there are nearly 30 national parks, and about a quarter of the country’s landmass is protected land.

So go take a trip and visit one — it’s free! If you can’t, here are some of our best shots of Costa Rica’s beautiful national parks.

Palo Verde National Park, a vast wetlands area near where the Tempisque River empties into the Gulf of Nicoya. Nearly 280 species of birds have been observed here. Erin Skoczylas/The Tico Times

Sunlight streams through the trees in Corcovado National Park, on the Osa Peninsula in southern Costa Rica. Lindsay Fendt/The Tico Times

A humpback whale flashes a fin from beneath the water at the Ballenas National Marine Park in Uvita. Lindsay Fendt/The Tico Times

Visitors to Poás Volcano National Park can safely view its crater from a distance of almost 1 kilometer. Informal guides are taking groups much closer. The Tico Times

Manuel Antonio National Park Andrés Madrigal/The TicoTimes

Chirripó National Park protects endangered species and also aquifers, rivers and the largest number of glacial lakes in Costa Rica. (Via SINAC)

Uvita's Whale Tail at the Marino Ballena National Park. Andrés Madrigal / The Tico Times

A sea turtle prepares to lay her eggs at Tortuguero National Park. Courtesy of Bookmundi