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Parque Nacional Sierra del Cristal, Holguín

Explore the Sierra del Cristal National Park and its lovely environment located in Holguín, which was the first one in Cuba

The Parque Nacional Sierra del Cristal (Sierra del Cristal National Park) is the first National Park opened in Cuba thanks to its natural and historical splendour. It is located in the provinces of Holguín and Santiago de Cuba, covering part of the municipalities of Mayarí, Frank País and Segundo Frente.

In 1930, it was declared the first National Park in the country, although since 1990 they started to treat it as such. No wonder if we pay attention to the characteristics of this mind-boggling natural environment, home of prolific fauna and flora.

It consists of a mountain chain between the Sierra de Nipe and Cuchilla del Toa that has its tallest point on Punta Cristal of 1,231 metres and its name comes from the abundance of crystalline quartzes on its shape.

Due to inhabiting species this particular area is very interesting. On its 26,306 hectares you may find a big variety of vegetation, leafy forests, pine forests, small spiny xeromorphic shrublands as well as montane shrublands. When it comes to the fauna, in the region we have species living only in this eastern part of the island, such as the Cuban solenodon or almiquí. The most distinctive ones are the jutía conga or Desmarest’s hutia, the andraz and the carabalí (prehensile-tailed hutia). What is important as well is the huge collection of endangered animals, such as the salamanquita (gecko), the chipojo ceniciento (escambray bearded anole), the majá de Santa María (Cuban boa), the gavilán colilargo (Gundlach’s hawk), the camao (grey-fronted quail-dove) or the cotorra (true parrot).

Apart from going to the Parque Nacional Sierra del Cristal to contemplate its amazing sceneries, you might want to visit Mayarí Arriba as well, a village located in an area of coffee plantations where Raúl Castro settled its command headquarters. On this mountain chain the battles of Ejército Rebelde (Rebel Army of the 26th of July Movement) took place. You may look up more about the events at Museo Comandancia del II Frente.

More information:
Location:

Sierra del Cristal, Holguín

Interactive map:

Holguín