El Yunque Caribbean National Forest

Long before Christopher Columbus set foot on Puerto Rico, the Tarrio Indians lived on the island, surrounded by the lush tropical landscape. Tarrio believed that their gods lived on the mountains, and identified El Yunque Peak as the home of Yuquiyd, the good god that protected them from all evil.

One of Puerto Rico's most popular attractions, E1 Yunque is a natural treasure. The 28,000-acre Caribbean National Forest is the only tropical rainforest in the United States national forest system, and it was named a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations. First established by the Spanish Crown in the 1870s, the forest encompasses four forest types and is the home of 240 different species of tropical trees, over 50 kinds of orchids, and 150 varieties of ferns. The coqui, a tiny native tree frog, and the endangered Puerto Rican parrot are two beloved members of the forest community. Some plant and animal species that are found in El Yunque exist nowhere else in the world.

El Yunque's rugged slopes are doused by up to 200 inches of annual rain. Each year a million visitors find out what warm temperatures and so much rain can do to a mountainside. Picnic shelters are set amid the flourishing flora and fauna, and observation towers beckon the adventurous. The island's longest and best-maintained trails wind into the forest, past flaming red and yellow heliconias and water-catching bromeliads.

The beautiful El Portal Tropical Forest Center recently opened at the foot of the forest. Its open-air building reflects the cathedral-like appearance of a tropical rainforest. Inside, displays and pavilions explain El Yunque and tropical forests around the world. A theater holds regular showings, in English and Spanish, of a video about El Yunque, and a shop offers items related to rainforests. An easy 45-minute ride from San Juan (Highway 3, turn right onto Route 191), E1 Yunque is a popular half- or full-day's outing. The travel desks at the major hotels can arrange guided tours. The forest itself is open daily from 7:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., 6:00 P.M. on weekends, and admission is free!