Up in the clouds — quite literally — Sky Walk Monteverde feels like walking through a dream you didn’t know you needed. Perched high in Costa Rica’s misty Monteverde Cloud Forest, it’s not the kind of place you barrel through. No, this is a slow, suspended stroll through the treetops, where everything feels a little quieter, a little cooler, and somehow a little more alive.
The walk starts off gently, on a soft-leafed forest floor. You’re surrounded by ferns and moss, birdsong you can’t quite locate, and that delicious forest scent — part rain, part earth, part something you can’t name but wish you could bottle. And then, just like that, you’re climbing. Onto the first bridge. The first of six, actually.
These aren’t rickety Indiana Jones rope bridges — they’re steel, well-built, and solid underfoot... mostly. They sway, just a little, enough to remind you that yes, you’re suspended above ravines and streams and who-knows-what down below. Some bridges are short and sweet. Others stretch out longer than you expect — enough for your brain to go, “Oh, we’re really doing this, huh?” But once you stop gripping the railing like your life depends on it (it doesn’t), you start to look around. And it’s magic.
You’re eye-level with orchids. Toucans flutter past like a glitch in the jungle. Somewhere nearby, a monkey rattles a branch. And all the while, the clouds — actual clouds — drift through the trees like they’re just passing by. The air is thick, not heavy, but textured somehow. A little damp, a little sweet, like it’s been filtered through leaves for centuries.
Go with a guide and they’ll tell you things you’d never notice — how many types of moss are clinging to one tree, how frogs here drink through their skin, how the forest literally eats clouds for breakfast. Go solo and you’ll hear the forest hum — creaks, drips, the occasional bird losing its mind in song.
You’ll want a rain jacket, even if it looks clear. Trust me. The weather in Monteverde changes faster than your mood in traffic. But honestly? Rain just adds to it. A light mist curling around the bridges, raindrops collecting on spiderwebs, the whole forest glistening like it’s been dusted in silver. You won’t regret it.
The whole walk takes around two hours, give or take how long you linger at the lookouts (and you’ll linger). There’s a small café at the end — the kind of place where the coffee tastes better because your legs are a little tired and your heart’s a little full.
Stay overnight if you can. Monteverde has treehouses and lodges where the windows fog up in the morning and hummingbirds hover outside like they’re checking in on you. Waking up there, knowing the forest is just outside your door? It’s a kind of peace you don’t find on highways or in inboxes.
The Sky Walk isn’t about the walk, really. It’s about stopping halfway across a bridge, looking out at a hundred shades of green, and realising you’ve completely forgotten to check your phone. That’s the win.
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