Costa Rica's national parks are a major attraction for their sheer variety and beauty. The country is praised worldwide for devoting over 10% of the country to national parks, although resources remain in short supply to protect these adequately from poachers and loggers. Started in 1955, the country's national parks and biological reserves now represent a total area in excess of 520,000 ha. A further 17% of the country has been set aside as wildlife refuges, Indian reserves and buffer zones.

The national parks are highly varied, and are scattered all around the country. Click to see the map. Some are nature reserves, others are volcanoes, beaches, springs, historic sites, pre-Columbian sites, cave systems, and so on. In total there are over 120 protected wildlife areas, including 24 national parks.