Forests · Palo Verde, Bagaces, Guanacaste

Palo Verde Wildfire 2026: Lightning Burns a Fifth of the Wetland Park

A lightning strike on May 28, 2026, started a wildfire in Guanacaste's Palo Verde National Park that burned roughly 4,000 hectares, about a fifth of the park, mostly in the Catalina wetland. Crews contained it by early June, the park reopened later that month, and officials say the wetland could need about 5 years to regrow and the burned forest 50 to 60.

By Pura-Verde.com Editors · Published October 30, 2026 · Updated October 31, 2026
Original report: The Tico Times: Wildfire Scorches 20% of Costa Rica's Palo Verde National Park (2026-06-02)

A single lightning strike from a dry thunderstorm set off one of the largest fires in a Costa Rican national park in recent memory. Between May 28 and early June 2026, flames spread across roughly 4,000 hectares of Palo Verde National Park in Guanacaste, about a fifth of the park, most of it in the Catalina wetland. The park is open again, but the people who manage it say the damage will take years, and in the forest patches, decades, to heal.

How a lightning strike became a 4,000-hectare fire

According to the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), lightning hit inside the wetland on Thursday, May 28, landing in a stand of cattail (Typha), a plant that has spread aggressively through Palo Verde's marshes and turns into dry, highly flammable fuel at the end of the dry season. Early estimates put the burn at 200 to 400 hectares. Then, with temperatures in the mid-30s Celsius, low humidity and strong winds, the fire took off: on Sunday, May 31, alone it grew by more than 1,500 hectares.

As The Tico Times reported on June 2, Alexander León, regional director of the Arenal Tempisque Conservation Area (ACAT), confirmed that about 20.2% of the park had burned. "As of Monday, it has still not been controlled," he said at the time. La Nación gave the same figures a day earlier and compared the burned area to about 55 times San José's La Sabana park. A Teletica headline on June 3 called it the second-largest fire in Costa Rica's national parks.

Who fought it, and how

Because heat and smoke made direct attacks dangerous, crews mostly fought the fire with machinery, cutting breaks around its edges. A MINAE statement reported by Delfino.cr listed about 60 specialists on site, including park rangers, SINAC forest firefighters, volunteer brigades, the national fire department and the Red Cross. Tractors came from local sugar mills and the Bagaces municipality, backhoes from the state utilities ICE and SENARA, and the nonprofit ProParques donated fuel. Tourism businesses and the local emergency committee kept crews fed and hydrated.

It took a toll on the people, too. On May 31, the Red Cross checked 26 forest firefighters for smoke inhalation; none needed hospital care.

By June 3, León told CRHoy the fire had been contained since Monday, June 1, meaning it was no longer spreading. It wasn't out yet, though: in the wetland, smoldering hot spots under the surface had to be dug out by hand and machine. CRHoy later put the end date at June 6.

What the fire did to the wetland and its wildlife

Palo Verde sits in the lower Tempisque River basin, between the Tempisque and Bebedero rivers, and covers about 19,800 hectares according to SINAC. Its seasonal marshes were among Costa Rica's first wetlands listed under the international Ramsar Convention, in 1991, and they draw huge numbers of resident and migratory waterbirds, including the jabiru, the largest stork in the Americas. The park also holds one of the country's biggest crocodile populations and patches of tropical dry forest that scientists at the Palo Verde Biological Station have studied for decades.

León told La Nación that turtles, wild cats and deer were among the animals hit hardest, though many escaped to nearby land, and fire department videos showed firefighters carrying turtles out of the smoke. Teletica reported on June 2 that authorities were already counting turtle deaths in the thousands; no official tally has been published.

In a July 22 CRHoy report, park administrator Manrique Montes Obando, who has worked at Palo Verde for 27 years, described a revised footprint of 3,617 hectares of wetland and 7 of forest, and losses that included hundreds of thousands of apple snails, an important food source for other wildlife in the marsh. The report said the marsh vegetation could return in about 5 years, while burned forest may need 50 to 60 years, and animal populations will also take years to rebuild.

A pattern, not a one-off

This wasn't Palo Verde's first big burn. An April 2023 fire there scorched more than 3,000 hectares, and earlier in 2026 fires hit nearby Lomas de Barbudal Biological Reserve and Santa Rosa National Park. León told La Nación that this year's fires were spreading far more aggressively than in the past and that firefighting needs more equipment, technology and new methods. There's also a risk the fire feeds the next one: biologist Rodolfo Vargas warned in a June 6 La Nación report that invasive cattail grows back quickly after a burn, which could make future fires more likely, so how the park manages it in coming dry seasons matters as much as the regrowth. For the bigger picture, see our report on Guanacaste's sharp rise in forest fires this year and on the court order to protect the Tempisque River, which feeds these same wetlands.

Can you visit Palo Verde now?

Yes. SINAC closed the park temporarily during the fire, and by late June ACAT announced on social media that Palo Verde had reopened, with daily hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., as El Observador reported on June 28. Expect burned areas around the Catalina wetland. The rainy season usually brings green regrowth to the marsh quickly, but the forest scars will last much longer. Check current conditions with SINAC before you go, stay on marked trails, and see our map of Costa Rica's national parks to plan a trip. Our guide to nature reserves and wildlife corridors covers other protected wetlands and forests worth supporting.

Frequently asked questions

What caused the 2026 Palo Verde fire?

MINAE said a lightning strike from a dry thunderstorm hit a stand of cattail (Typha) inside the park's wetland on May 28, 2026. Dry, invasive cattail, heat and wind helped it spread.

How much of Palo Verde National Park burned?

Officials estimated about 4,000 hectares, roughly 20% of the park, mostly in the Catalina wetland. A later CRHoy report cited 3,617 hectares of wetland and 7 hectares of forest.

Is Palo Verde National Park open after the fire?

Yes. It closed temporarily during the fire and had reopened by late June 2026, open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the Arenal Tempisque Conservation Area.

How long will Palo Verde take to recover?

According to a July 2026 CRHoy report featuring the park's administrator, the wetland's plant cover could return in about 5 years, while burned forest could take 50 to 60 years.

Sources and original reporting

1. The Tico Times: Wildfire Scorches 20% of Costa Rica's Palo Verde National Park (2026-06-02)
2. La Nación: Incendio forestal arrasa con el 20% del Parque Nacional Palo Verde en solo tres días (2026-06-01)
3. Delfino.cr: Incendio en Parque Nacional Palo Verde afectó cerca de 4000 hectáreas, citing a MINAE statement (2026-06-04)
4. CRHoy: Bomberos contienen incendio en Palo Verde (2026-06-03)
5. La Nación: Incendio forestal en Palo Verde está controlado (2026-06-03)
6. Teletica: Autoridades ya reportan muerte de miles de tortugas en incendio de Palo Verde (2026-06-02)
7. El Observador: Parque Nacional Palo Verde reabre al público tras voraz incendio forestal (2026-06-28)
8. La Nación: Grave riesgo para Palo Verde persiste pese a incendio controlado (2026-06-06)
9. CRHoy: Palo Verde tardará hasta 60 años en recuperarse de devastador incendio (2026-07-22)

We wrote this story from the published reports and official sources above. We didn't interview the people named unless the story says so.