Cerro Kamuk (also known as Cerro Pico Blanco) is a mountain in the Cordillera de Talamanca, in

La Amistad International Park The La Amistad International Park, or in Spanish , formerly the La Amistad National Park, is a Transboundary Protected Area in Latin America, management of which is shared between Costa Rica ( Caribbean La Amistad and Pacific La Amistad Conserva ...

, in eastern Costa Rica, close to the border with

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. It rises to above sea level. It is one of the highest mountains in Central America. Indigenous peoples of the area include the

Bribris The Bribri are an Indigenous people in eastern Costa Rica and northern Panama. Today, most Bribri people speak the Bribri language or Spanish. There are varying estimates from government officials of the group's population. Estimates of the to ...

and Cabecar. The area protected comprised four national parks clustered together that became

La Amistad Biosphere Reserve The La Amistad International Park, or in Spanish , formerly the La Amistad National Park, is a Transboundary Protected Area in Latin America, management of which is shared between Costa Rica ( Caribbean La Amistad and Pacific La Amistad Conserva ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

declared it a natural

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

in 1983. It is part of the

Mesoamerican Biological Corridor The Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC) is a region that consists of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and some southern states of Mexico. The area acts as a natural land bridge from South America to North ...

, UNESCO's project shared by eight Central American countries (Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Mexico) to help protect the remaining pristine mountain forest and wildlife of

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

Access

A trail has been established to access the peak, which begins in the small community of Tres Colinas (Tres Colinas can be accessed by four-wheel drive from the town of Portero Grande). Access to the trail is primarily managed through the community-based organization called Asotur Tres Colinas. The

National System of Conservation Areas National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC, es, Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación) is part of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) of Costa Rica. It is the administrator for the nation's national parks, conservation areas, an ...

or SINAC also has a station in Tres Colinas, but as of March 2020 it is not being staffed. The trek is 55 kilometers round trip with three designated camp areas along the route. Camp 1 is located just after kilometer along a small creek, camp 2 is at kilometer and also along a creek, and camp 3 is at kilometer , and the summit is at . Asotur currently requires that all parties be accompanied by a guide when entering the park via the Cerro Kamuk trail. The trail follows the ridge and crosses many other peaks including: Kutsi, Bekom, Kasir, Nai, Dudo, and Apri before arriving at Kamuk. Water is only easily accessible at camp areas.

Flora and Fauna

The trail to Kamuk begins amidst former agricultural lands that are being reclaimed by forest, and then enters montane oak forest rich with

epiphytes An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

, at higher elevation the trail passes through peat bogs, and eventually enters

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrowe ...

Chusquea ''Chusquea'' is a genus of evergreen bamboos in the grass family. Most of them are native to mountain habitats in Latin America, from Mexico to southern Chile and Argentina. They are sometimes referred to as South American mountain bamboos. Unl ...

bamboo is common along the trail especially at higher elevation. The area is home to abundant wildlife including puma, jaguar,

tayra The tayra (''Eira barbara'') is an omnivorous animal from the weasel family, native to the Americas. It is the only species in the genus ''Eira''. Tayras are also known as the ''tolomuco'' or ''perico ligero'' in Central America, ''motete'' ...

brocket deer Brockets or brocket deer are the species of deer in the genus ''Mazama''. They are medium to small in size, and are found in the Yucatán Peninsula, Central and South America, and the island of Trinidad. Most species are primarily found in forest ...

and

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inh ...

.Dr. Mike Mooring, Dr. Ryan Botts. Abner Rodriguez, Timothy Wiegman, Amy Eppert,Steven Blankenship
"Talamanca Large Mammal Study-Progress Report 2018"
''Department of Biology, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, CA'', January 2019. Retrieved 3/21/2020.

External links

Asotur Tres Colinas
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References

Kamuk Kamuk {{CostaRica-geo-stub