Location: 31 mi (50 km) Northwest of Penonome
5 mi (8 km) Northwest of El Cope
Tel. 997-9089, 997- 7538
The General de División Omar Torrijos Herrera National Park, originally known by the name of El Copé (name of a tree, very common in the region) is a national park of Panama. It is named in honor of Omar Torrijos Herrera, who died on July 31, 1981 in a plane crash, on Cerro Marta. It was created by Executive Decree No. 18 of July 31, 1986.
This park comprises 25,275 hectares of primary forests. It is located in the Central Cordillera of Panama, north of a town called El Copé, Coclé province, has within its limits the Peña Blanca hill and the Marta hill. These limits run along the mountain range that divides the waters between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean and the junction point between the provinces of Coclé, Colón and Veraguas.
In the park there is a diversity of environments and natural
communities, as well as the headwaters of the important rivers of this
region, such as: San Juan, Belén and Concepción; on the Caribbean slope.
While in the Pacific the Marta River, Great and Name of God.
Despite deforestation, this park preserves a diversity of forests, plant
species, variety of birds and fauna. Even today there are some mammals
in danger of extinction, such as the jaguar, puma, tigrillo, tapir,
saíno, mountain pig, white-tailed deer, among others. All these animals
are protected by national laws. The park is managed and protected by the
Ministry of Environment of Panama (MiAmbiente).
The climate in this park varies from humid tropical to very humid temperate, at the top of the mountain range and very humid tropical in the Caribbean area.
Another popular destination in the Omar Torrijos National park is El Tiffe Waterfall. It takes about 4- 6 hours to get here.