About 4km north of La Libertad, along the Comalapa road, Parque Nacional Walter T Deininger is named for the German settler who donated the land. It includes two types of forest: caducifolio , which sheds its leaves in summer, and galería , which retains its foliage year-round.
To visit, you supposedly must obtain a permit from ISTU in San Salvador five days prior to arrival. You might just try showing up and talking with the guard. It’s a 15-minute ride from La Libertad – catch bus 187.
A well-maintained 18km trail skirts the park; you must be accompanied by a ranger. Signs mark trails to Río Amayo, ‘the Mystery Cave’ and a lookout showing the forest cascading to the sea. Deer, raccoon and the endangered tepezcuintle (paca) can be spotted, in addition to many bird species, including the torogoz (blue-crowned motmot), El Salvador’s national bird.
