Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bosque Estatal de Río Abajo
Densely forested and dotted with development, this state
forest covers 5000 acres in karst country near the Observatorio de Arecibo. It has hiking
trails and an aviary, where the Department of Natural Resources is working to reintroduce
the Puerto Rican parrot and other endangered species.
Isla Mona
The most isolated of Puerto Rico's nature sanctuaries lies about 50 miles east
of Mayagüez, across the often-turbulent waters of Pasaje de la Mona. This tabletop island
is sometimes called Puerto Rico's Galápagos or Jurassic Park because of its isolation. It's
a tag made all the more eerie by the island's 200ft limestone cliffs, honeycomb caves and
giant iguanas. Come here for solitude, hiking and caving.
Vieques National Wildlife Refuge
Glimmering to the east are the 'Spanish Virgin Is-
lands', Culebra and Vieques, both of which have large tracts of land designated as National
Wildlife Refuges under the control of the US Fish & Wildlife Service. At 18,000 acres,
the Vieques refuge is the largest protected natural reserve in Puerto Rico and home to wild
turtles and sleepy iguanas. Activities here include hiking, cycling, snorkeling, sailing and
swimming.
Other notable parks and reserves include Bosque Estatal de Carite, which offers easy hikes
through pristine forest, as well as kayaking and camping, and Reserva Forestal Toro Negro,
with its misty mountaintops and wild hiking trails, both in the central mountains; the
Bosque Estatal de Guajataca and Parque de las Cavernas del Río Camuy on the north coast,
for hiking, caving and petroglyphs; and Culebra National Wildlife Refuge, which US Pres-
ident Theodore Roosevelt signed into law almost 100 years ago.
Organizations
The National Astronomy & Ionosphere Center (
www.naic.edu
)
website has information about the Observatorio de Arecibo for
the general public as well as academic types.
National Park Service (NPS;
www.nps.gov
)
Part of the US Department of the Interior,
this federal agency oversees San Juan's El Morro and San Cristóbal forts, which together
are classified as the San Juan National Historic Site.
Departamento deRecursos Naturales yAmbientales (DRNA;Department ofNatural
Resources;
www.drna.gobierno.pr
,inSpanish)
Puerto Rico's fairly disorganized natural
resources agency administers all of the island's
bosques estatales
and
reservas forestales,
and issues camping permits. Its main office is in San Juan.
