El Parque Nacional El Cope, located in Panama, was established in 1986 within the country's Central Mountain Range, which serves as the watershed division between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It is a forest reserve primarily composed of rubber and sapodilla (Manilkara zapota) trees, nestled within the cloud forest of the Isthmus' central region. Accessible by road from the city of Penonomé, the park features administrative offices, an information booth, a nature trail, a ranger shelter, and a checkpoint. El Cope National Park is situated 180 kilometers away from Panama City.
The park safeguards the watershed areas of rivers such as Bermejo, Marta, Grande, and Nombre de Dios, which flow into the Pacific Ocean, as well as the rivers Blanco, Guabal, Lajas San Juan, Belén, and Concepción, which make their way to the Caribbean Sea via Cerro Punta. The park's higher elevations are home to lower montane rainforests, transitioning into premontane rainforests as you descend, and eventually giving way to very humid tropical rainforests on the wetter Caribbean side.
Endangered mammals that inhabit the park include all the major feline species found in Panama, such as jaguars, pumas, ocelots (Felis pardalis), margays, and jaguarundis (Toyassu tajacu). There are populations of Baird's tapir, collared peccary, white-lipped peccary, and white-tailed deer. Birdlife in the park features the rare orange-bellied trogon, the bare-necked umbrella bird, the snowy cotinga (Microhera albaronata), and the elusive strong-billed woodcreeper.
