Skip to content
forestyas
EN

Costa Rica Costa Rica arboretum

Las Cruces biological station and Wilson botanical garden

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30

72% trees around it and 1,404 species recorded.

87Forestyas Score

ArboretumWildMountain forestFungiBirds

  • trees within 3 km72%
  • wild within 10 km99%
  • species recorded1,404
  • Altitude1,207 m

The forest around

72% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 87%Grassland 13%Trees 70%Grassland 29%Built-up 1%Trees 75%Grassland 23%Built-up 2%Trees 78%Grassland 21%Built-up 1%72%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km87%
  • 1–3 km70%
  • 3–6 km75%
  • 6–10 km78%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees70%
  • Grassland29%
  • Built-up1%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

1,404 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Rattlesnake plant
Rattlesnake plantCalathea crotalifera25 recordsForest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0
Selaginella diffusa
Selaginella diffusaSelaginella diffusa25 recordsSalix · CC BY-SA 3.0
Palicourea padifolia
Palicourea padifoliaPalicourea padifolia23 recordskeesgroenendijk · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ctenanthe dasycarpa
Ctenanthe dasycarpaCtenanthe dasycarpa22 recordsDick Culbert · CC BY 2.0
Tall brakePteris altissima28 records
Lunania mexicanaLunania mexicana22 records
Psychotria biaristataPsychotria biaristata21 records
Diplazium prominulumDiplazium prominulum21 records
Elaphoglossum longipilosumElaphoglossum longipilosum21 records
Diplazium seemanniiDiplazium seemannii19 records
Geonoma cuneataGeonoma cuneata18 records
Anthurium durandiiAnthurium durandii18 records

Open records within 2 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

87out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 72%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 99%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 1,404Speciesrecorded more than once within 2 km
  • 1,207 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking from January to February.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan25°18°86 mm
  2. Feb26°18°49 mm
  3. Mar28°18°63 mm
  4. Apr28°19°108 mm
  5. May26°20°250 mm
  6. Jun25°20°219 mm
  7. Jul25°19°252 mm
  8. Aug25°19°228 mm
  9. Sep24°19°209 mm
  10. Oct24°19°263 mm
  11. Nov24°19°266 mm
  12. Dec25°18°132 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Las Cruces biological station and Wilson botanical garden.

Biological station and botanical garden in Coto Brus canton of Costa Rica

Las Cruces biological station and Wilson botanical garden is an arboretum in Costa Rica, 1,207 m above the sea.

Seen from space, 72% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 99% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

1,404 species have been recorded around it: 757 plants, 176 fungi, 463 birds and 8 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Rattlesnake plant, Selaginella diffusa and Palicourea padifolia.

The best time to walk is from January to February.

Las Cruces biological station and Wilson botanical garden seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at DAV airport (David)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Las Cruces biological station and Wilson botanical garden seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 1named and notable trees within 6 kmGran Ceiba de Sabalito
  • 2shelters and huts within 6 km
  • 9places to stay within 10 kmCasa Botania, Canto Del Bosque, Cabañas Bambú and 6 more
  • marked trails within 5 km
  • picnic sites within 4 km
  • viewpoints within 5 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km
  • car parks within 3 km
  • campsites within 10 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Las Cruces biological station and Wilson botanical garden.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas8 mountains within 25 km
Cerro Agua Buena4.0 kmCerro Cruces4.5 kmCerro Las Cruces6.4 kmCerro Cañas Gordas7.2 kmAlto de Santa Cruz20 kmCerro Mamey20 kmCerro Namey20 kmCerro Anguciana21 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Other forests nearby.

Las Cruces biological station and Wilson botanical garden

Costa Rica

  • 87Forestyas Score
  • 72%Trees
  • 99%Wild
  • 1,404Species

Lankester Botanical Garden

Costa Rica · 155 km

  • 60Forestyas Score
  • 39%Trees
  • 85%Wild
  • 356Species

See the guide

Parque Zoológico Nacional Simón Bolívar

Costa Rica · 177 km

  • 33Forestyas Score
  • 10%Trees
  • 50%Wild
  • 478Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q5926458) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species359,194 open records within 2 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here