Guilarte State Forest (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Bosque Estatal de Guilarte'') is one of the 20 forests that make up the public forests system in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. The forest is located in the eastern half of the

Central Mountain Range The Central Mountain Range is the principal mountain range on the island of Taiwan. It runs from the north of the island to the south. Due to this separation, connecting between the west and east is not very convenient. The tallest peak of th ...

or ''Cordillera Central''. The main geographical feature of the forest reserve is

Monte Guilarte Monte Guilarte, also known as Monte del Guaraguao, is the fifth-highest peak in Puerto Rico at above sea level. The mountain is located in the Cordillera Central, in the municipality of Adjuntas. It is so named after Captain Juan Guilarte de ...

, which is Puerto Rico's 7th highest mountain at 3,950 feet (1,204 m) above sea level. While Monte Guilarte is located in the municipality of

Adjuntas Adjuntas (, ) is a small mountainside town and municipality in Puerto Rico located central midwestern portion of the island on the Cordillera Central, north of Yauco, Guayanilla, and Peñuelas; southeast of Utuado; east of Lares and Yauco; a ...

, the forest's borders also include parts of

Guayanilla Guayanilla (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located on the southern coast of the island, bordering the Caribbean Sea, south of Adjuntas, east of Yauco; and west of Peñuelas and about west of Ponce. Guayanilla is spread over 16 ...

, Peñuelas and

Yauco Yauco () is a town and municipality in southern Puerto Rico. Although the downtown is inland, the municipality stretches to a southern coast facing the Caribbean Sea. Yauco is located south of Maricao, Lares and Adjuntas; east of Sabana Grande ...

History

In 1935, the

Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) was one of the alphabet agencies of the New Deal established by the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Created on May 28, 1935, the PRRA's first directors included America ...

(Spanish: ''Administración de Reconstrucción de Puerto Rico'') acquired 3,500 acres in and around

in the municipality of

with the goal of preserving the area as a forest reserve. The reserve was intended to be a wildlife preserve for the conservation of numerous plant and animal species found in the area but also for recreational purposes. Today the forest is managed by the

Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (PRDNER) is the executive department of the government of Puerto Rico tasked with protecting, conserving, developing, and managing the natural and environmental resources in Pue ...

(DRNA), which has enlarged the protected area of the forest which now extends 4,822 acres.

Ecology

The forest has altitudes varying from 2,500 to 3,950 feet above sea level and it is divided into two forest zones: the

subtropical moist broadleaf forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

in the form of the Sierra palm tree forest and the montane rain forest found in the highest peaks of the forest. These preserved forests are very important for the protection of various hydrological basins such as those of the

Arecibo River Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, the ...

, the Añasco River and the Guayanilla River, all of which have their sources within the forest's boundaries.

Flora

The forest is home to approximately 227 species of trees of which 4 are endangered or threatened: the West Indian walnut ('' Juglans jamaicensis''), the ''palo de Ramón'' tree ('' Banara vanderbiltii''), the endemic dwarf tree fern ('' Alsophila dryopteroides'') and the Monte Guilarte hollyfern (''

Polystichum calderonense ''Polystichum calderonense'' is a rare species of fern known by the common name Monte Guilarte hollyfern. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where it occurs in the Peñuelas and Guilarte Commonwealth Forests. There are only 57 individual plants remai ...

''). The latter is also endemic, highly endangered and can only be found in two locations in this forest. The most common type of forest zone found in the reserve is the Sierra palm tree forest where the species of the same name is most numerous. In addition to this palm tree the forest is also home to other indicator species such as the ''caimitillo'' tree ( ''Micropholis sp.'') and the tabaiba tree ( ''Sapium laurocerasum''). Another notable tree species is the Puerto Rican magnolia or ''jagüilla'' (''

Magnolia portoricensis ''Magnolia portoricensis'' is a tree of the Caribbean region. Its vernacular names include jagüilla and Puerto Rico magnolia. It is native to Puerto Rico and it is found in the Toro Negro State Forest Toro Negro State Forest (Spanish: ''B ...

''). The montane forest, also referred to as the

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

, located in the highest parts of the forest is home to species such as the ''Tabebuia shumanniana'' and the ''Ocotea spatulata'' which are evergreen trees with small leaves often found in the highest parts of Puerto Rico. Other trees found in this area include the Spanish elm or ''capá prieto'' (''

Cordia alliodora ''Cordia alliodora'' is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that is native to the American tropics. It is commonly known as Spanish elm, Ecuador laurel, cypre or salmwood. It can reach 35 m in height. Uses ''Cordia a ...

'') and the introduced yet naturalized swamp mahogany or swamp eucalyptus (''

Eucalyptus robusta ''Eucalyptus robusta'', commonly known as swamp mahogany or swamp messmate, is a tree native to eastern Australia. Growing in swampy or waterlogged soils, it is up to high with thick spongy reddish brown bark and dark green broad leaves, which ...

''), which are adapted to the cooler temperatures.

Fauna

The Guilarte Forest is one of the few protected areas in Puerto Rico that are home to numerous endangered or threatened animal species such as the red fruit bat ('' Stenoderma rufum''), only found in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Eneida's coquí ( ''Eleutherodactylus eneidae''), the mountain coquí (''

Eleutherodactylus portoricensis ''Eleutherodactylus portoricensis'' (vernacular Spanish: ''coquí de la montaña'') is a frog native to Puerto Rico that belongs to the family Eleutherodactylidae. Its vernacular English names are upland coqui, mountain coqui, and Puerto Rican ...

''), the Puerto Rican boa ( ''Epicrates inornatus''), the Puerto Rican vireo or ''bien-te-veo'' ('' Vireo latimeri''), and the Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk or ''Sierra'' hawk ( ''Accipiter striatus venator''), a highly endangered subspecies of the

sharp-shinned hawk The sharp-shinned hawk (''Accipiter striatus'') is a small hawk, with males being the smallest hawks in the United States and Canada, but with the species averaging larger than some Neotropical realm, Neotropical species, such as the tiny hawk. ...

. Other animal species found in the forest are the scaly-naped pigeon ( ''Patagioenas squamosa''), the Puerto Rican emerald hummingbird ( ''Riccordia maugeaus''), the Puerto Rican tody or ''San Pedrito'' ( ''Todus mexicanus''), the Puerto Rican woodpecker ( ''Melanerpes portoricensis''), the Puerto Rican twig anole (''

Anolis occultus The Puerto Rican twig anole or dwarf anole (''Anolis occultus'') is a species of small, arboreal anole endemic to Puerto Rico and primarily inhabiting the Cordillera Central from the Sierra de Cayey range in the Southeast to the central-western r ...

''), the olive bush anole ('' Anolis krugi''), the yellow-bearded anole (''

Anolis gundlachi ''Anolis gundlachi'', also commonly known as the yellow-chinned anole, Gundlach's anole, or yellow-beard anole, is an oviparous, sexually dimorphic species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Dactyloidae. The species is endemic to Puerto Ri ...

''), the emerald anole (''

Anolis evermanni ''Anolis evermanni'', also known Common name, commonly as the emerald anole, Evermann's anole, and the small green anole, is a species of lizard included within the Family (biology), family Dactyloidae. ''A. evermanni'' is native to Puerto Rico, ...

''), the Puerto Rican giant anole ('' Anolis cuvieri''), and the Puerto Rican galliwasp or four-legged snake ( ''Diploglossus pleii'').

Recreation

The forest reserve is open during daylight hours and offers opportunities for hiking, birdwatching and cabins. There are two main hiking trails in the forest: the San Andrés Trail which circumnavigates the forest and the Pico Guilarte trail which leads to the summit of

, the highest point of the forest. Both trails offer views through a series of lookout points. Other facilities in the forest include bathrooms, barbecue pits and cabins for visitors. There are seven cabins (with room for 4 guests) available, and reservations must be made in advanced by contacting the

. Parking is available at the DRNA ranger office in Guilarte, Adjuntas at the corner of PR-518 and

PR-131 Puerto Rico Highway 131 (PR-131) is a road located in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. It begins at its intersection with PR-135 in Barrio Yayales and ends at Guilarte Forest near Peñuelas municipal limit. Its segment between PR-525 and PR-518 is pa ...

roads. Camping is not allowed within the forest but the area outside the reserve also offers additional opportunities for recreation such as Garzas Lake which is used for fishing and camping, and numerous waterfalls and pools for swimming such as ''Charco Mangó'' and ''Charco El Ataúd''.

References