| Santa Rosa National Park | |
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IUCN Category II (National Park)
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| Location | Costa Rica |
| Nearest city | La Cruz, Guanacaste |
| Area | 387 km2 (149 sq mi) |
| Established | 1972 |
| Governing body | National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) |
Santa Rosa National Park, in Spanish the Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, is a national park, part of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage site, in the northern western part of Costa Rica, originally created to protect the scene of the Battle of Santa Rosa, at its eastern edge lies the Interamerican Highway where it is adjacent to the Guanacaste National Park, the main site is 36 kilometres (22 mi) north of Liberia in Guanacaste Province.
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Santa Rosa was originally a farm located in the north-western Guanacaste Province, in Costa Rica. Today an old hacienda building, "La Casona," functions as the monument commemorating the fallen heroes of the different battles that took place here.
Primarily, Costa Rica remembers the Battle of Santa Rosa won by their army over the forces of filibuster William Walker. On March 20, 1856, when the Costa Rican forces reached this point, the filibusters were housed in the main farm building, La Casona. The ensuing battle lasted all of 14 minutes with the national militia victorious in ousting the invaders. The farm however kept for years its strategic significance. This place was the location of two more battles of Costa Rican forces against invading forces from Nicaragua. In 1919, there was an attempt from the invaders to overthrow the dictatorship of General Federico Tinoco Granados; and in the 1955, Costa Ricans fought intruders supporting a coup attempt against the government of José Figueres.[1]
It was created in 1971 to not just cover the historical site but also to protect the savannah, deciduous forest, marshlands, and mangroves of the area. The park covers an area of approximately 495 square kilometres (191 sq mi). Fauna includes coyotes, peccaries, White-nosed Coatis, Baird's Tapirs, three species of monkey (Geoffroy's Spider Monkey, Mantled Howler and White-headed Capuchin) and sea and land turtles. Several cat species are also present (jaguarundi, ocelot, cougar and jaguar) but are rarely seen.
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