Current view: Text account
Site description (2003 baseline):
Site location and context
Camino de Cruces National Park includes part of the former U.S.-administered Canal Zone east of the canal, between Panama City and Metropolitan Nature Park in the south and Soberanía National Park in the north. The terrain is broken, with the high point (269 m) near the northern boundary. The Gaillard and Northern Corridor highways run along the western and eastern sides respectively of the park. An access highway for the Centennial Bridge has recently been constructed accross the park. The park contains part of the historic Spanish colonial Camino de Cruces Trail and the ruins of Cárdenas Chapel.
Camino de Cruces is an important bottleneck site for migratory raptors. In 2004 a total of 350,766 Turkey Vultures, 236,445 Broad-winged Hawks, and 241,062 Swainson's Hawks were counted on autumn migration. Many of these probably used the area as an overnight roost. Several nationally threatened species occur, as well as the endemic Yellow-green Tyrannulet of the Darién Lowlands EBA.
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals that are known or probably occur include Central American Wooly Opossum, Silky Anteater, Geoffroy’s Tamarin, Western Night Mon-key, Panamanian Spiny Pocket-Mouse, Capybara, Olingo, Neotropical River Otter, Ocelot, Margay, and Jaguarundi. The reptiles and amphibians have not been surveyed in detail but many of the species found in Soberanía National Park probably occur. The snake Trimetopon barbouri has been recorded.
The park contains semideciduous lowland forest, almost all less than 100 years old, and highly disturbed in the southern part. Some 1,700 ha (42%) of the park is deforested. Adjacent land use is primarily urban and suburban, although there are some rural areas devoted to subsistence agriculture near the northeastern boundary.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Poaching and the illegal extraction of valuable wood such as cocobolo are problems. Some 1,700 ha (42%) of the park is deforested. The recent completion of the Northern Corridor Highway along the eastern border has led to a small-scale invasion by poor squatters within the park boundaries, although so far this has been mostly on deforested land. A new access road to the Centennial Bridge has recently been constructed across the park. Panama's main garbage dumps, Cerro Patacon, is immediately adjacent to the park. There have been proposals to cut some forest contiguous to but outside the park on Clayton for residential development. Because of its proximity to Panama City the area has considerable potential for ecotourism, although there are problems with petty crime especially along Chiva Chiva Road.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
None known.
Camino de Cruces National Park was created in 1992, and a small section of Fort Clayton, a former U.S. military base, was added when it reverted to Panama in 1999. There are five park guards.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: Camino de Cruces National Park (Panama). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/camino-de-cruces-national-park-iba-panama on 16/01/2025.
