El Yunque is located in a green belt like most Tropical forest around the Equator, The Equator cover approximately seven percent of the Earths surface. El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rain forest in the United States National Forest System. The Sierra de Luquillo Mountains which transverse this area receive over 200 inches of rain a year.
Located in the east side of Puerto Rico, the forests covers an area of 28,000 acres.El Yunque is big in diversity, There are more species of trees in the Forest that there are in all the other forests of the National Forest System put together.
The Taino believed their gods lived in the Sierra de Luquillo.As the home of Yuquiyu, The good God who protected them from all that was evil, gave the cloudy peaks a name which means white or sacred lands. The Spanish explores translated the Taino tern in error to "Yunque
Petroglyphs are etched in some of the forests rocks as a reminder of the early inhabitants of the area, The Taino Indians for whom the forest had a spiritual significance
Over 200 inches of rain, or about 100 billion gallons, fall every year over the expanse of El Yunque .Eleven of Puerto Ricos major rivers rise here. An estimated 20% of the islands populations depend on the forests water for domestic use. Filtered by forest vegetation these are some of the purest water found on the island
The Yokahu Tower can be seen from various forest locations. The view offers the opportunity to study the four different forest types, mountain peaks and the remaining effects of Hurricane Hugo.