One of my top recommendations when visiting Panama City is to head to the Metropolitan Natural Park. The short hike to the viewpoints at the top of the park is fun and from these you can enjoy the best scenes of the city.
You get panoramic views including all the way to the East and West islands that sit just off the city’s shoreline and, in the opposite direction, of the beautiful countryside within the Parque Nacional Soberanía.
There’s also a host of wildlife within Panama City’s metropolitan park with birds, reptiles, mammals and amphibians all calling it home.
In this quick guide, I share how to get to the metropolitan park and what the hiking trails are like to help you plan your visit.
What to do at Metropolitan Natural Park in Panama City
Hiking is the main attraction at the national park and there are several short and easy trails. Well, I wouldn’t exactly call them hikes, they are more like walks.
To enter the park, foreign adults must pay 5 PAB ($5 US) and the opening times are 7:00 – 16:30 every day.
Trails in Panama City Metropolitan Natural Park
There are 7 trails within the metropolitan park and most of these connect to form a big loop. The trails are all easy – people of all levels of fitness can walk them – with the longest at just over 1 km and the shortest 300 m.
The trails are:
- Los Momotides – 0.9 km / 20 min
- Dorothy Wilson – 0.3 km / 10 min
- Mono Tiki Walk – 1.1 km / 1 h
- La Cienaguita – 1.1 km / 1 h
- El Roble – 0.7 km / 30 min
- Los Caobos – 0.9 km / 45 min
- Los Guayacanes – 0.7 km / 20 min
Recommended hiking route
Here’s a metropolitan natural park map of the route I recommend taking. On this route you walk a big loop heading through the wildlife-filled forest up to the viewpoints.
You’ll start and finish at the visitor centre, where you pay the 5 PAB entry fee, and can walk in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. It doesn’t matter which direction you choose as the trails are just as easy, or challenging, either way.
Start by heading northeast behind the visitor centre on Los Cabos. Walk the entire length of this trail to join El Roble. Along the way you’ll climb to Los Caobos Lookout.
Los Caobos Lookout
This is the first viewpoint along the trail and it sits at 82 m.a.s.l. From here you have great views of the city and can see different plant life.
At the end of Los Caobos turn left onto El Roble and stick to it until you come to La Cienaguita. Now head left again uphill following La Cienaguita.
Up until this point the underfoot is a well-maintained hiking trail made of soft wooden chips. But on La Cienaguita this changes to paved road all the way to the top of the hill.
Cerro Cedro Lookout
At the top of La Cienaguita you come to the Cerro Cedro, the best viewpoint in the park, sitting at 160 m.a.s.l. This is where you get panoramic views and you can see all the way to the Panama Canal and also other national parks and protected areas.
Los Trinos Lookout
At Cerro Cedro you join the Mono Titi Walk which brings you back down the hill. Closer to the bottom of the hill you come to Los Trinos Lookout. This sits at 96 m.a.s.l, but, unlike the last viewpoint, the views are of the jungle. It’s the best spot to scan the trees for wildlife.
Once at the bottom of the hill, continue along the Mono Titi Walk, passing the Castle Bunker, an old aircraft maintenance building, before returning to the visitor centre via Los Robles.
Bird watching
The metropolitan park in Panama City is a haven for bird spotting as there are 283 bird species living here. Among others you can see blue-crowned motmots, wrens, lance tailed manakins, greenlets, trogons, woodpeckers and toucans.
What animals are in the Panama Metropolitan park?
There’s an array of wildlife at Metropolitan Natural Park in Panama City. In fact, there are 64 mammal species, 39 reptile species, 21 amphibian species, 11 fish species and 633 flora species.
Some of the more interesting mammals here include anteaters, tití monkeys, sloths and white-tailed deer, while reptiles include turtles, iguanas and tortoises.
How to get to Metropolitan Natural Park in Panama City
I recommend getting to the metropolitan park with an Uber. Not only is it convenient, but it’s also generally cheap to take Ubers within the city.
It shouldn’t cost you more than around 5 PAB ($5 US) if coming from a touristy area such as Casco Viejo. Regular taxis in Panama city typically charge a little more than Uber.
I’m not a huge fan of the bus system (Metro Bus) in Panama City, but it can save you a lot of money compared to taking Ubers and taxis.
To ride the metro, you first need to get a metro card, which costs 2 PAB ($2 US). These are sold at some large supermarkets and bus terminals. You charge your metro card with credit and short rides cost 0.25 PAB ($0.25 US).
I use the Moovit app for finding bus routes in Central America. In my experience, it’s consistently reliable.
When to visit the Metropolitan Natural Park
I recommend going to the Metropolitan Natural Park during the dry season, which runs December to April in Panama. The weather will be nicest during this period and the views of the city are best.
The rainy season runs from May to November. While the trails in the park are walkable during this time, the views from the lookouts might be poor and wildlife harder to spot.
More adventure travel guides on A World Over
Enjoy the Metropolitan Natural Park in Panama City and its great lookouts of the surrounding area. Just remember to take water and a few snacks to keep yourself topped up.
I also recommend hiking Ancon Hill, which is another great spot for Panama City views and wildlife spotting. And you check out these related travel guides for more trip inspiration.