La Amistad — Friendship — is the largest protected area in Central America, straddling the Panama-Costa Rica border at over 4,000 square kilometres and recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The Panamanian side is administered from the ranger station at Las Nubes, twelve kilometres above Cerro Punta.
The park is mostly trackless cloud forest and Talamanca mountain ridges, with very few visitor facilities. Three short trails leave from Las Nubes — the Vereda La Cascada to a waterfall, the Sendero El Retoño through bamboo and old-growth oaks, and the longer Mirador trail up to a viewpoint over Costa Rica. Wildlife includes resplendent quetzals, three-wattled bellbirds, and the rarely-seen Baird's tapir.
Longer trips into the interior require a guide and permits. Pack rain gear; the cloud forest here lives up to the name and you should expect to be wet for at least part of any day.