Bosque Estatal de Río Abajo — Attraction in Arecibo

We stopped by here to do the tour for the Cueva Ventana. We were especially lucky to have Ernesto, the park's wildlife biologist guide us that day. He is so passionate about his job, and the park, and the animals and that in turn inspired a lot of us in that tour group. He had such an immense amount of knowledge for us, and could answer any question we could throw at him, and he could get us all hyped up for what turned out to be a two hour hike. (Wear comfortable shoes) I give five stars for Ernesto alone.

So soon after hurricane Maria, and the forest is still recovering, but it is making a comeback. It's very beautiful and I can only imagine what it will look like once it's at its full majesty again.

All of the animals were deeply affected, but none so much as the fruit bat. (Where there were once thousands, only a couple remain). I deeply suggest helping in any way that you can. Ask the park rangers how you can do so, or even just tip the guide some extra money because he will use that to help feed the animals and build them shelters.

Seriously, save the bats.

PS: obviously, the bats are very sensitive to light. I recommend bringing a red-light which is the only safe light in which...

I don't understand how people are visiting this place. We arrived just before 4pm on a Saturday and found the road was blocked with a rope and fence and "DANGER ZONE" and "DO NOT ENTER" signs. We had taken the 6612 to the 621 and then turned left. After about 3km we encountered the barrier. The mossy and overgrown road behind looked unused. We went back on the narrow road to the intersection with the 6612 and found a small "Visitor Center" sign that pointed in the other direction. We followed this and ended up on the 10, not finding the visitor center anywhere. We drove around the area some more, but could not find any other entrance. There are no hours on Google Maps or any website that we could find. We were very disappointed as we had planned one of our days on the island around visiting this state forest and had read that this was the best place to spot the endangered Puerto Rican Amazon. They could really put up some better signs, hours in Google Maps, or a website with information on when and how to visit. We drove all this way for nothing and wasted an...

Writing this review as an update to the previous two reviews. We attempted a visit on Monday June 30, 2025. The road to the park (621) deteriorates significantly along the way the deeper you go into the forest. The aviary at the end of this road is closed to visitors, and the visitor’s center at the entrance to 621 was gated off and closed when we drove by. There is active construction ongoing near the aviary, so hopefully this beautiful area becomes accessible to visitors in the coming years. All trails leading from 621 were closed with “danger zone” signs, so I think it’s best most folks considering a trip here wait for a formal update on the status of the park prior to...