A first-class nature-oriented destination in the hills outside of town is Macaw Mountain Bird Park (tel. 504/651-4245, www.macawmountain.com, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. daily), a couple of kilometers outside of Copán on the road to the hot springs (walk or take an inexpensive taxi). The beautifully designed bird park is filled with brilliantly colored macaws, toucans, and parrots from Honduras and elsewhere in Latin America.

One of the premier natural protected areas in Honduras, Parque Nacional Celaque boasts the country’s highest mountain, Cerro de las Minas, at 2,849 meters, as well as an impressive cloud forest on the high plateau. Towering trees are covered with vines, ferns, and moss, forming a dense canopy completely blocking out the sun, with little undergrowth between the trees. Celaque means “box of water” in Lenca; 11 major rivers begin at Celaque, which gives an idea of how wet it can be.

Formed by the estuaries of Ríos Cuero, Salado, and San Juan, which flow off the flanks of the Cordillera Nombre de Dios to the south, the Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge comprises 13,225 hectares of wetlands and coastline filled with plant and animal life endangered elsewhere in Honduras. Jaguars, howler and white-faced monkeys, manatees (the reserve’s mascot), turtles, crocodiles, caymans, fishing eagles, hawks, and several species of parrots are among the 196 bird and 35 mammal species identified within the reserve’s boundaries.

A small miracle of botanical science and one of the finest bird-watching sites in Central America, Lancetilla was first set up in 1925 by plant biologist William Popenoe of the United Fruit Company, who is also responsible for starting the Escuela de Sciencias Agrícolas in the Valle de Zamorano, near Tegucigalpa.

Initially Lancetilla was designed as a research station for testing different varieties of bananas, but Popenoe’s endless inquisitiveness soon led to experiments with fruits and plants from all over the world.

Situated on the highest reaches of the Sierra Merendón, a north–south-trending mountain range in northwestern Honduras, Parque Nacional Cusuco covers 23,440 hectares, of which 7,690 hectares fall in the core zone above 1,800 meters. The park forms part of the watershed for the Río Motagua, on the north and west sides, and for the Río Chamelecón, on the south and east.

Honduras’s largest natural lake, Lago de Yojoa, is roughly 16 kilometers long by eight kilometers wide, at an altitude of 635 meters, right along the San Pedro Sula–Tegucigalpa highway. Lake depth varies between about 18 and 25 meters, depending on season. The setting, backed by the majestic cloud-forested mountains of Santa Bárbara and Cerro Azul/Meámbar (both protected as national parks), is spectacular.

The extensive marshes and forests around Lago de Yojoa, located in the transition zone between the Valle de Sula and the central highlands, boast the country’s largest variety of bird species. One count put the number of species at 407. Whatever the exact number, the lake and surrounding forests are a birder’s paradise. One particularly good spot is at Hotel Agua Azul or the nearby Isla del Venado; another is the foothills of Santa Bárbara near San Luis de Planes.

Along the jungly northwestern shores of Lago de Yojoa, not far from the village of El Jaral, are the unexcavated ruins of Los Naranjos (tel. 504/9946-9482, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. daily, US$5), a pre-Hispanic settlement thought to be of Lenca origin, although much archaeology remains to be completed. The site began to be settled around 800 B.C. and was at its height in the couple of centuries on either side of the birth of Christ. Stylistic features of buildings and pottery suggest some Olmec influence in the early period and interaction with Mayan culture in later times.

Looming over the eastern side of Lago de Yojoa, and frequently shrouded in clouds, is a sheer-walled massif of mountain peaks cloaked in lush green forests, protected as Parque Nacional Cerro Azul/Meámbar, or PANACAM. The park covers just over 400 square kilometers, ranging between 415 and 2,080 meters, supporting (from lower to upper elevations) coffee plantations, lowland humid forests, pine forest, and cloud forest. On one of the highest peaks in the center of the park is a rare elfin forest, similar to the one in Sierra de Agalta, Olancho, a bizarre ecosystem of stunted oak and pine trees, covered with moss and lichen.

The first protected area in Honduras, Parque Nacional La Tigra was established as a reserve in 1952 and declared a national park in 1980. It covers 23,571 hectares across the top of the mountains above Tegucigalpa, of which 7,571 hectares form the core zone. A visit to Parque Nacional La Tigra makes for a refreshing day trip from Tegucigalpa.