The night hike at Hidden Valley Reserve explores the added diversity of night life found in a unique transition zone combining cloud forest and lower elevation forest ecosystems. In this mid forest region, the reserve is able to maintain an orchard of fruit trees attracting a variety of exotic nocturnal animals including mammals, birds and insects. The trail is wide and easy to navigate.
Meeting at 5:00PM, in time to enjoy a beautiful sunset, your nationally certified naturalist guide will begin by showing you the areas where daytime animals are preparing for sleep. Once darkness falls, the forest comes alive with nocturnal creatures awakening to forage for food. This is the best time for observation as they start to emerge into the night canopy. Various animal species you might encounter include: snakes, sloths, coatimundis, tree frogs, bats, sleeping birds, amazing insects and especially spiders, including the Costa Rican Zebra tarantula. There are also interesting plants to see like phosphorescent fungi. Bring a flashlight and you might be the first to spot something spotting you!
Hidden Valley was the first to offer night hikes and other ecotourism projects in the area. With a passion for preservation, this 27 acre reserve was founded in 1979 to promote protection of the environment through education. You will want to bring a jacket as it can get quite chilly at night and wear closed toed shoes for protection. This two hour night hike adventure includes round trip transportation from your lodging in Monteverde, bilingual professional guide, and park entrance.
The Cloud Forest Night Tour Hidden Valley is available from Monteverde
Latitude: N 10°18'35.24". Longitude: W 85°10'49.9"
07/04/2019
The logistics and overall experience of this night tour met expectations. However, I'm not sure I would do this tour again. As with any wildlife tour, we understand that seeing wildlife is always based on luck. We did not see much wildlife, but it was interesting to see the jungle in the darkness. Fortunately the weather was good for this tour.
12/23/2018
Good tour
07/13/2017
We saw some cool stuff, but the weather was nasty.
02/25/2017
I think we were just unfortunate that we didn't see many creatures, when we spoke to others who had dont the same thing with different groups they had seen so much more.
09/17/2016
the guide on this tour was not good. He took no account of the group, he also went too fast. he noted little in the forest
02/06/2016
Guide did not go out of his way , nor look out for his group. Unfortunately, there were rather boisterous young people on tour which may have distracted the guide. Hi accent was very thick and I had some trouble understanding him.