Chagres National Park, National park near Panama City, Panama.
Chagres National Park covers 129,000 hectares of tropical rainforest in the eastern sector of the Panama Canal, between the provinces of Panama and Colon. Its rivers feed the Chagres River and Gatun Lake, and the Chagres Highlands rise to Cerro Jefe at 1,007 m on the Continental Divide.
Chagres National Park was created in 1985 to protect the forests that supply water to the Panama Canal and drinking water to Panama City, Colón and La Chorrera. Each ship passing through the canal's locks uses about 52 million gallons of fresh water, which the park's rivers help replenish. The park also supports hydroelectric generation for Panama and Colón.
The park's name comes from the Chagres River, whose headwaters it protects. The Panamanian woodpecker (Piculus callopterus), a species found only in Panama, lives in its forests, and the harpy eagle, the national bird, has been recorded there. The frog Ectopoglossus isthminus is nearly endemic to the park.
The park is accessible from Panama City via roads and offers activities like kayaking, hiking, and birdwatching. Plan your visit during drier months when trails are more easily passable.
Each ship passing through the canal's locks uses about 52 million gallons (196.84 million litres) of fresh water that is not recovered, so the park's forests and rivers must keep Gatun Lake and the Chagres at operating level. The park was created in 1985 for that purpose, and also supplies drinking water to Panama City, Colon and La Chorrera and generates electricity for Panama and Colon.
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