National park · Amambay
Parque Nacional Cerro Corá
The hills of Amambay, forests and the setting for the end of the War of the Triple Alliance, with pre-Columbian rock art.
5,683 haAccess
Nature
Nature of Paraguay
Paraguay has no coastline, but it has the nature of an entire continent. Within its borders you'll find the Chaco, the southern tip of the Pantanal, the Cerrado, the last remnants of the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest and the great marshes of the south. This is home to the jaguar, the giant armadillo, the maned wolf and the Chacoan peccary, or taguá, a species known only from fossils until 1975, when scientists confirmed it was still alive in the Chaco. More than 700 bird species have been recorded here. Many of these landscapes are under threat, and traveling with local guides is one way to help protect them. It pays to follow the seasons: the pink lapacho (tajy) in bloom at the end of winter, the bellbird calling in spring, and flamingos on the Chaco's salt lagoons.
National park · Paraguarí
Parque Nacional Ybycuí
Atlantic forest, crystal-clear streams and waterfalls a few hours from Asunción, next to a 19th-century iron foundry.
5,000 haAccess
National park · Alto Paraguay y Boquerón
Parque Nacional Defensores del Chaco
The country's largest protected area: pure Dry Chaco, with the Cerro León massif rising from the plain.
720,724 haAccess
National park · Boquerón
Parque Nacional Teniente Agripino Enciso
The Dry Chaco right beside the Transchaco: thorn forest, Chacoan peccaries and Chaco War trenches.
40,000 haAccess
National park · Boquerón y Alto Paraguay
Parque Nacional Médanos del Chaco
Stabilized dunes, sandy plains and dry forest in the far northwest: home to Paraguay's only guanacos.
605,075 ha
Reserve · Presidente Hayes
Reserva de Recursos Manejados Tinfunqué
A great Pilcomayo wetland and Ramsar site: flooded grasslands where rheas and capybaras live alongside cattle.
241,320 ha
National park · Alto Paraguay
Parque Nacional Río Negro
The protected Paraguayan Pantanal: karanda'y palm groves, flooded forests and wetland wildlife along the Negro River.
123,789 ha
Private reserve · Canindeyú
Reserva Natural del Bosque Mbaracayú
The largest remnant of Atlantic Forest in the country and Paraguay's most biodiverse place, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
64,406 haAccess
Reserve · Itapúa y Caazapá
Reserva de Recursos Manejados San Rafael
The last great Atlantic forest in southern Paraguay, source of the Tebicuary and Pirapó rivers, with nearly 400 bird species.
73,000 haAccess
National park · Alto Paraná
Parque Nacional Ñacunday
Forest beside the Paraná and the Ñacunday falls: a curtain of water some 40 m high in southern Alto Paraná.
2,004 haAccess
Reserve · Guairá
Reserva de Recursos Manejados Ybytyruzú
Forest-covered hills, waterfalls and Tres Kandú, Paraguay's highest point (842 m).
24,000 haAccess
Natural monument · Central
Monumento Natural Cerros Kõi y Chororĩ
Sandstone in hexagonal columns, a geological rarity half an hour from Asunción, in Areguá.
Access
Natural monument · Alto Paraná
Monumento Científico Moisés Bertoni
The forest and home-laboratory of the Swiss scientist who studied the plants and culture of the Guaraní, on the banks of the Paraná.
199 haAccess
Reserve · Alto Paraná
Reserva Natural Tatí Yupí
An Itaipú reserve near Hernandarias: forest, streams and small waterfalls, with facilities for visitors.
2,245 haAccess
Reserve · Asunción
Reserva Ecológica Banco San Miguel y Bahía de Asunción
An urban wetland facing the historic center, with 269 bird species and a key stopover for shorebirds from North America.
522 haAccess
Reserve · Asunción
Reserva Ecológica Parque Guasu Metropolitano
Asunción's green lung: forests, savannas and lagoons where you can see tegus, foxes and waterbirds.
125 haAccess
National park · Paraguarí, Central y Ñeembucú
Parque Nacional Lago Ypoá
A lake, marshes and floating islands in the largest wetland near Asunción, a Ramsar site and refuge for deer and birds.
119,006 haAccess
Private reserve · San Pedro
Área Silvestre Protegida Laguna Blanca
A lagoon of transparent water and white-sand beaches in the heart of the Cerrado, with 283 bird species recorded.
804 haAccess
Private reserve · Presidente Hayes
Reserva Laguna Capitán
Salt lagoons in the Central Chaco with flamingos, spoonbills and shorebirds, on land owned by the Chortitzer cooperative.
4,500 haAccess
Private reserve · Presidente Hayes
Laguna Chaco Lodge (sitio Ramsar)
An estancia with the largest salt lagoon in the Chaco, a Ramsar wetland with flamingos and coscoroba swans.
2,500 haAccess
Private reserve · Alto Paraguay
Estación Biológica Tres Gigantes
Guyra Paraguay's reserve in the Pantanal, on the banks of the Negro River: the gateway to the great wetland.
15,000 haAccess
Private reserve · Paraguarí
Ecorreserva Mbatoví
A private reserve in the hills of Paraguarí that combines forest trails with adventure tourism.
Access
National park · Concepción
Parque Nacional Paso Bravo
A large area of Cerrado and dry forest in northern Concepción, along the Apa River and the Brazilian border.
100,614 ha
National park · Caazapá
Parque Nacional Caazapá
Forested hills where the Monday, Ñacunday and Tebicuary rivers begin, with monkeys, toucans and wild cats.
12,699 ha
Natural monument · Alto Paraguay
Monumento Natural Cerro Chovoreca
An isolated hill on the Bolivian border, with reddish soils and a forest unlike any other in the Chaco.
100,953 ha
Tips
- Bring binoculars and log what you see on eBird or Merlin: data from visitors helps local science.
- For the deep Chaco, the Pantanal and remote parks, hire local guides or baqueanos (backcountry guides), travel by 4x4 with spare water and fuel, and notify the park rangers in advance. Many areas have no cell signal.
- The best time for the Chaco is May to September. In summer the heat tops 40 °C and rain makes dirt roads impassable.
- Use insect repellent, long sleeves and closed shoes: there are mosquitoes, ticks and venomous snakes such as the yarará. Watch where you step and don't put your hands into holes.
- Before traveling, check current vaccination recommendations (for example, yellow fever outside Asunción) and protect yourself against dengue.
- Don't buy wild animals, skins, feathers or parrots: wildlife trafficking is one of the biggest threats and is prohibited under the wildlife law (Law 96/92).
- On Chaco roads, drive slowly at dawn and dusk: anteaters, foxes, armadillos and even pumas cross the road and are killed by vehicles.
- Sport and commercial fishing have an annual spawning closed season: it usually starts in early November and runs until late December (until late January in waters shared with Brazil). Check the dates published by MADES before you go and get a fishing license.
- Between August and October the risk of wildfires is high, especially in the Chaco and the Pantanal: don't light fires outside designated areas.
- If you pass through Indigenous communities, ask permission before entering or taking photos, and whenever possible buy crafts directly from the people who make them.
- To see the lapachos in bloom, plan your trip between July and September. In Asunción, the streets and squares turn pink and then yellow.