Braulio Carrillo National Park is one of the largest protected areas in Costa Rica with 50,000 hectares. It is located in the Central Volcanic Mountain Range, northeast of the Central Valley. It has two sectors that allow visitors: Quebrada González and Barva.
The section of Braulio Carrillo National Park where the Barva Volcano is located has now been reopened to visitors. This section of the park has been closed since April 2020 due to the breakout of the Covid 19 pandemic. The reason for the closing due to that this area of the park did not have the necessary health requirements set in place in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
Since its closure, steps have been taken to make the required improvements. Those steps included repairing drinking water tanks, wastewater treatment tanks as well as installing hand-washing sinks at the entrance.
While they were at it, they also improved the security of the parking lot in order to minimize if not eliminate what was a growing and ongoing problem of car break-ins and theft while tourists were visiting the park.
Since the Barva sector is also very popular for hiking and photographing the incredible flora and fauna that can be seen along the way, they also worked on improving the conditions of the trails to make them more manageable for visitors.
In order to control the long lines to enter the park and control the number people that are allowed in at one time due to the pandemic, it is highly recommended that you reserve your space before arriving at the park by going to the SINAC website
Here is a tutorial on how to do that:
