1/17/24: Puerto Rico's El Yunque National Forest

Located in Puerto Rico's northeast region, El Yunque National Forest is the only tropical rainforest in the US National Forest System. We entered El Yunque on the northern side, about 25 miles southeast of San Juan, in the rugged Sierra de Luquillo, as it was far more accessible from the capital. Originally set aside in 1876 by the Spanish Crown, the forest represents one of the oldest reserves in the Western Hemisphere. 

El Yunque, formerly known as the Caribbean National Forest, was named after the Taíno god, Yúcahu, which means "Forest of Clouds." An apt name given that clouds often dominate the 28,000-acre tropical forest!

Because the forest was still undergoing recovery efforts after the devastation wrought by both Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017, we knew some of the trails were still closed.

We were lucky, therefore, that the El Portal Visitor Center reopened in 2022 after sustaining structural damage from the hurricanes. We were surprised that while there was no entrance fee to the national forest, access to the visitor center cost $8 each. That was a twist on normal entrance fees. 

On the floor of the visitor center was a map of the Caribbean. How neat was that!

El Yunque was home in its earliest days to indigenous people who used its natural resources while living on its lower slopes. When gold in the mountains attracted the Spanish when they arrived in the 1500s, some people escaped by seeking refuge in the dense forest. In the 1800s and early 1900s, Spanish and then American mining and logging changed the look of El Yunque. 

It was distressing to find out that 95 percent of the entire island had been deforested by the 1930s. Fortunately, major reforestation efforts began about then. Most of what we saw was new growth since the mid-1900s.

We learned that though it’s one of the smallest rainforests, it is one of the most biologically diverse with 240 trees and plant species and 26 species found nowhere else on earth. Seventy-five percent of Puerto Rico's virgin forest was here in El Yunque.

The Puerto Rican archipelago was home to an endemic parakeet and two parrot subspecies but only a few Puerto Rican parrots remain today in El Yunque. In the indigenous Taino language, the parrot was called iguaca which referred to its distinctive call. That informal name is still in use. Biologists are helping them recover in a few areas across the island as it's one of the world's ten most endangered birds. A photo of the Puerto Rican parrot courtesy of the visitor center:

Though the admission fee was a surprise, the visitor center was quite lovely.

Some of the plants along the Discovery Trail caught our eye.

In our more recent travels, Steven and I have come across more and more gardens that also include artwork sprinkled in among the flowers and plants. El Yunque was no different. Presence and Lichens consisted of circles of different sizes made from acrylic sheets and paint that hung from branches. The artist considered the lichens a celebration as they normally go unnoticed in forests even though they are important for biodiversity. This image would have fit perfectly in your recent post, Toonsarah!

Memoriam, made of dead coral rocks found washed ashore, reminded us that the national forest wasn't far from the ocean and that it was impossible to isolate it from the coastal environment.

Thank goodness we knew to wear layers that could get wet as it rained on us almost immediately.  The forest’s highest elevations can receive up to 200 inches of rainfall annually! 

I could only smile at this one as I had trouble valuing its artistic merit.

After walking on a couple of trails by El Portal, we hopped back into the car and began driving south through the forest. We soon encountered the 60-ft. high Yokahu Tower, one of two observation towers built in El Yunque. Yokahu was built in 1963 at an elevation of 1,575 ft.

If the weather had been a little clearer (and perhaps our eyesight better!), we might have been able to see the Virgin Islands ten miles beyond the shore. However, the views we did catch were superb.

Further on, a short trail led to Baño Grande or Big Pool, a beautiful man-made, 18-ft. deep pool surrounded by a cobblestone path and a lovely arched stone and masonry dam. Built in the late 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the pool was continuously used from 1936 to 1968 until it was closed to swimmers over safety concerns. The pool was one of the best-preserved examples of the early New Deal-era concrete and masonry construction left in Puerto Rico.

At an elevation of 1, 476 feet, La Coca Falls was a very pretty waterfall that dropped 85 feet onto a large rock formation at the bottom of the falls. After a few hours in the rainforest, you can see my naturally curly hair returned in full force, a change I welcomed from my normally straight hair in dry Denver!

The ants go marching one by one. Hooray! Hooray! Yup, those were ants 'marching' leaves down the tree.

I'm not normally a fan of black-and-white photos but I do like this almost purely black-and-white one if I do say so myself as it captures El Yunque's namesake clouds, the tower, and an air of mystery. I'm glad we had set aside time to visit one of Puerto Rico's crown jewels with its lush, mountainous terrain and stunning views.

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Returning to San Juan, we walked in the Santurce district, a mixed commercial and residential area with a growing arts community.

Though we arrived at the charming La Placita or Plaza del Mercado too early to take in one of San Juan's liveliest spots, viewing the circa 1910 market hall made it worthwhile. The building was surrounded on all sides by bars and restaurants that would be hopping later.

Miami Art Deco-style architecture even made it to this building by the beach in San Juan.

A little east of Old San Juan was Condado Beach, a perfect spot to rest near the end of the day.

The territory's own version of the Stars and Stripes:

A lovely church by our apartment on our last night in San Juan:

Next post: Heading west from the capital to Ponce de Leon and San German.