THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Panama - page 155

Parque Nacional Chagres
The park headquarters (daily 8.30am-4.30pm) are at Campo Chagres, a small headland jutting into Lago
Alajuela; there's also a park office at the end of main road in Cerro Azul • $5
North of Panama City, encompassing large tracts of the Provinces of Colón and Panama,
the vast, sprawling rainforested wilderness of Parque Nacional Chagres stretches from the
northern rain-soaked mountains overlooking the Caribbean to the park's highest peak, Cerro
Jefe (1007m), in the south. The tropical vegetation harbours large but elusive populations of
tapirs, endemic salamanders and an abundance of birdlife, including harpy eagles and the rare
Tacarcuna bush tanager, and is laced with waterfalls and rivers rich in fish as well as otters,
caimans and crocodiles. Hikers are also drawn to the area, particularly by the prospect of
following in the steps of the conquistadors along the Camino Real , which slices across the
western edge of the reserve.
At the heart of the park, the powerful Río Chagres and its tributaries - home to several Em-
berá and Wounaan villages that welcome visitors - carve their way through rugged terrain
spilling into the scenic elongated Lago Alajuela at the park's southwest corner. A reservoir,
Lago Alajuela was built to help regulate the water level in Lago Gatún further downriver.
Supplying forty percent of the water necessary for the canal to function and providing all the
water for domestic and industrial consumption - as well as electricity through hydroelectric
power - in Panama City and Colón, the Río Chagres is of vital importance to the country.
In order to protect the river and its catchment area, the national park was formed in 1985, its
1296 square kilometres making it one of the country's largest reserves.
Río Chagres and around
Most tourist activities rely on the area's main artery, the Río Chagres , be it whitewater raft-
ing the cascading torrents of the upper river or more leisurely kayaking along the slower,
lower stretches, both of which are generally organized as day-trips from Panama City. One of
the best ways to explore the park is by visiting one of the numerous Emberá communities,
sprinkled along the banks of the Chagres and its tributaries. The Emberá, together with the
closely related Wounaan, have been relocating from the Darién since the late 1960s. Since
their traditional means of livelihood - semi-nomadic subsistence agriculture and hunting -
are now largely denied to them thanks to the restrictions of living within a national park, they
are being encouraged to make a living from tourism.
As with the neighbouring parks of Camino de Cruces and Soberanía, Parque Nacional
Chagres also includes important traces of the country's colonial past, containing a lengthy
portion of the Camino Real , one of the conquistador mule routes across the isthmus, which
skirts the eastern shores of Lago Alajuela. There is currently no clearly marked route but sev-
eral tour companies offer day or multi-day guided hikes along this historic trail.