The Guánica State Forest is a subtropical dry forest located within the Guánica Bay watershed. Subtropical dry forests occur in regions where there are several months of severe drought, with most rain falling during a (usually) brief wet season. The absence of precipitation during a prolonged portion of the year is what produces the dry forest, an ecosystem type characterized by plants and animals possessing specific adaptations to survive the dry season.
The forest encompasses almost 9,500 acres (38 km2) acres and is maintained by the Departmento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA). Due to its ecological importance, it has been designated as a United Nations International Biosphere Reserve.
The forest offers 36 miles (58km) of trails through four forest types (deciduous trees, a coastal region with tree-size milkweed and nine-foot-tall prickly pear cactus, a mahogany forest, and twisted gumbo limbo trees). It is home to about 50% of Puerto Rico‘s terrestrial bird species, including the rare guabairo (Puerto Rican Nightjar), making it a bird-watcher‘s paradise.