Chagres National Park

Chagres National Park exists for a practical reason: every ship that transits the canal uses tens of millions of litres of fresh water, and that water falls as rain on this forest and drains into Lake Alajuela and Gatún. Protecting the forest protects the canal. Within it, along the upper Chagres, live Emberá communities who moved here from Darién and who run visits from their villages, reached by dugout canoe. The park also holds a surviving stretch of the Camino Real, the stone road the Spanish used to carry Peruvian silver across the isthmus, now a forest trail.

What you actually see

• The Chagres river - the water supply the whole canal depends on.
• Emberá village visits - reached by dugout canoe up the river.
• The Camino Real - stretches of the Spanish silver road in the forest.
• Lake Alajuela - the upper reservoir behind Madden Dam.

When to go

December to April is the dry season, though river levels drop and canoe access can get harder. Community visits are arranged in advance through the villages or through operators working with them. Rain is heavy in the wet season and the river rises fast.

Honest expectations

Emberá village visits vary enormously: some are run by the communities with the money staying local, others are packaged by operators with little reaching the village, so ask directly. The performances put on for visitors are staged, which the communities are open about. Roads and river access are rough and weather-dependent.

Nearby

Gamboa and Soberanía are downstream; Portobelo is on the Caribbean coast.