Is it worth doing

If you’ve never been in a jungle biome, Mistico Park is a great way to get familiar. The park is well maintained, has good infrastructure and the paths are paved. The full sensory experience of walking on the hanging bridges while viewing the lush jungle and listening to a symphony of wildlife ambience was a memorable experience. You are quite high up amongst the jungle canopy giving you unique views of the surroundings. The entrance of the park also has incredible and unobstructed views of Arenal volcano in the distance. We were fortunate to have no clouds, adding more to the beauty and memorability of the experience.

The main “wow factors” of this activity were seeing Arenal volcano cleanly and walking on the hanging bridges. The Arenal volcano is majestic and towering. It’s got an incredible palette of a grayish-black with green patches throughout the cone of the volcano. The views from the hanging bridges are also stunning throughout the park. It felt surreal being a part of the canopy and having 360-degree views of the jungle. All of these contribute to a strong “wow factor”.

There are a few “hanging bridges” in Costa Rica, notably in La Fortuna and Monteverde. However, this was our first time experiencing a “hanging bridge” while in the jungle. We felt the activity was fairly unique because it was new to us. However, those experienced with this kind of activity might view this as “less unique”.

As of writing this, we paid $32 + tax for self guided admission into the park for a 7 am time slot. If you are a local resident or Costa Rican citizen, the tickets are cheaper. Also ticket prices are a few dollars cheaper if you book in the afternoon ($28) for a self guided tour. There is also a guided tour option, but it’s more expensive at $44 + tax. To help you understand the difference, a tour guide is trained to identify and spot wildlife with their experienced vision and have equipment to help with animal sightings. So if you prefer having someone be able to spot wildlife and share educational information about them, then the guided tour option might be for you. We did not book a guide and were able to see several creatures such as armadillos, slugs, insects and various frogs on our own. We felt the admission cost was fair because we assume a portion of the funds goes to maintaining and upgrading the park. The park is well maintained and clean.

We spent around 2 hours inside the park navigating through the hanging bridges and trails. We felt this was time well spent and felt stimulated throughout our experience. Because we had the park to ourselves we could take our time, especially on the bridges and take photos unobstructed and uninterrupted. The park also has varying routes you could take, giving you flexibility on where you want to spend your time.

Even though we spent 2 hours hiking throughout the park, we took necessary breaks giving ourselves time to rest when needed. We explored from west to east in an oval shape if you see a picture of the map online. Hiking throughout the park is not strenuous for most people. The trail itself is properly maintained and the paths are paved fairly well. So it’s mostly smooth walking throughout. At the end of the trek we felt the physical effort exerted was fair and rewarding. It didn’t leave us overly tired at the end.

The entirety of Mistico Park during our experience was quite safe. We felt the hanging bridges were sturdy and secure. It is slightly wobbly in the center, but that’s to be expected. It’s not overly concerning in our opinion especially when walking on it normally. The paths are paved and there’s decent signage. We personally didn’t have any dangerous encounters with wildlife. However take normal precautions and show respect when interacting with any animal as it’s less predictable how they might react.

From our experience there was hardly anyone at the park because we arrived early. Therefore our exposure to any kind of social concern was low. The park is generally secure as there are guards prior to the entrance of the parking lot. Also staff will only admit those who have a valid ticket inside the jungle. Practice normal safety precautions.

The hanging bridges is a fairly reliable activity. Weather is usually the biggest variable, which depends on the season when you’re visiting (rainy vs. dry). In our case we were fortunate to have clear skies and no rain. That enhanced our overall experience of viewing Arenal volcano and the jungle. But we recognize that might not be the case for everyone since Costa Rican weather can be sporadic. So you’ll have to plan accordingly and get a bit lucky with the timing of the weather.

Mistico Park has wheelchair accessible routes that can allow you to experience the jungle and hanging bridges. The trek throughout the park is not too difficult so it can be done for most people. You will not need any technical hiking abilities because the trail is well paved mostly. We would normally wear hiking shoes but we wore regular sneakers for this experience.

Mistico Park is around a 30 to 35 min drive from La Fortuna downtown area, which we assume most tourists will be staying at. A car is probably the most effective way of getting there. There are a few ways. You could drive there yourself or with others. You could hail an Uber or join a tour group that offers transportation. In our case we rode in a car with our group. The roads to get to the park are generally paved. Once you get closer to the premise of the park and make the turn off the main road the surface is slightly bumpy and uphill, but not a major concern. Be prepared for how you’re getting to and from Mistico Park because it is a bit away from downtown La Fortuna which is probably the nearest major city.

We bought our tickets from the official Mistico Park Hanging Bridges website. We would recommend securing your tickets in advance to make your arrival smooth. In our case we chose the “Self-Guided Hanging Bridges Tour” option and clicked the “book now” button. We chose our preferred time slots and filled out the information necessary. Because we were traveling with locals we had to modify our booking a bit to account for them. Otherwise, the process is generally straightforward and afterwards you’ll be emailed a waiver to sign.