Henri Pittier National Park is Venezuela’s oldest national park, originally created in 1937 with the name Rancho Grande by decree of President Eleazar López Contreras. The park was renamed in 1953 after Henri Pittier, the famous Swiss geographer, botanist and ethnologist who arrived in Venezuela in 1917, classified more than 30,000 plants in the country and dedicated many years to the study of the flora and fauna in the park.

Henri Pittier National Park has the honor of having initiated the history of national parks in Venezuela. It covers an area of 107,800 hectares and is located in the northern part of Aragua State. It includes a large part of the coast of Aragua and the mountainous area of Carabobo State and is adjacent to San Esteban National Park. Henri Pittier is the largest national park in the Coastal Mountain Range.

The park is made up of two geographic systems: a steep mountainous system inhabited by more than 500 bird species and 22 endemic species, nine major rivers, and a great diversity of flora and vegetation. The second system is the coastal zone with bays, beaches and resorts with enormous tourist potential.

In addition to its ecological importance, it is also an important source of water for the surrounding towns and villages and is also the land where some of the best cocoa in the world is grown, especially in the town of Chuao and its famous cocoa route.