Chirripó National Park is a park in Costa Rica. It covers parts of three provinces: San José, Limón, and Cartago. The park was created in 1975. It is part of the Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves/La Amistad National Park UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its special environment and many different kinds of plants and animals.

The park is named after Cerro Chirripó, which is the highest mountain in Costa Rica. Cerro Chirripó is 3,820 meters (12,530 feet) tall. It is the 38th most prominent peak in the world.

Climate

The climate has two main seasons: a dry season that lasts from December to April and a wet season from May to November.

During the dry season, the higher areas are more likely to have fires. Fires have happened in the past, such as in 1953, 1958, 1976, 1977, 1981, and 1992. The fire in 1992 damaged more than 20 km (7.7 sq mi) of plant life and caused the park's managers to close the park for four months.

This park is one of the coldest places in Costa Rica. The lowest temperature ever recorded in the country, −9 °C (16 °F), was measured here.

Ecology

In terms of Holdridge life zones, the park is divided into five ecosystems: lowland tropical wet forest, premontane tropical wet forest, lower montane wet forest, montane wet forest, and subalpine wet forest (páramo). Most of the park includes both primary rain forests and primary cloud forests. At an elevation of 2,740 meters (8,990 feet), the area changes to a wet desert. Part of the Turberas de Talamanca Ramsar site, established in February 2003, is located within this protected area and is shared with Tapantí National Park, Los Quetzales National Park, Macho River Forest Reserve, Vueltas Hill Biological Reserve, and Los Santos Forest Reserve.