Sierra del Merendón is a mountain range extending on the eastern border of

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. Its south-western border is marked by the Lempa River valley, its northern border by the Motagua River valley. The mountain range has several different biomes and habitats, including

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 ...

s. The

Cusuco National Park Cusuco National Park is a national park in Honduras. It was established on 1 January 1959 and covers an area of . Cusuco National Park is a protected area in the Merendon mountains of northwest Honduras. The park ranges from just above sea level ...

(Parque Nacional El Cusuco) is located on the Honduran side and protects an area 23,440 hectares of temperate forest in the Merendón mountain range. The core zone is located at an altitude of 1,800 - 2,242 m. (15° 29.8' − 15° 32.1' N, 88° 13.0' − 88° 16.3' W). Predominant forest habitats in the park are

s (1,500 - 2,242 m), semi-arid pine forests on south-facing slopes (800 - 1,500 m), wet deciduous forests on north-facing slopes (500 - 1,500 m).

References

Mountain ranges of Guatemala Geography of the Izabal Department Geography of the Zacapa Department Mountains of Honduras Cortés Department Santa Bárbara Department, Honduras Mountain ranges of Central America {{Honduras-geo-stub