Rio Grande
'City of El Yunque' hosts the only US tropical rainforest—1.2 million annual visitors, 20% of PR's fresh water, Time's Greatest Places 2023. Sugar haciendas became trail systems.
Río Grande exists because of water—the river that gives the town its name, the rain that makes El Yunque the only tropical rainforest in the US National Forest System, and the 20% of Puerto Rico's fresh water supply that flows from these mountains. Founded on July 16, 1840, by Desiderio and Quilimaco Escobar where the Río Grande meets the Río Espíritu Santo, the municipality now hosts the majority of El Yunque National Forest within its borders and carries the unofficial title 'City of El Yunque.'
The geography defines everything. El Toro, at 3,474 feet, is the highest point in eastern Puerto Rico. The forest receives over 200 inches of rain annually in some areas, feeding rivers with names that reveal their character: Mameyes, Sonador, La Mina. This hydrological abundance supported 19th-century sugar cultivation; by 1894, two sugar haciendas and 256 estancias operated within municipal limits. Today the same water that once irrigated cane draws 1.2 million annual visitors to waterfalls and trails.
Tourism dominates the modern economy. Time Magazine named Río Grande among its World's Greatest Places in 2023. The $18 million renovation of El Portal visitor center completed post-Maria; the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar resort occupies 500 acres along a mile of beachfront adjacent to the forest. Twenty-seven beaches line the municipality's Atlantic coast. Manufacturing and commercial flower growing (especially lilies) provide economic diversity, but the pattern is clear: rainforest economics have replaced plantation economics.
By 2026, Río Grande tests the sustainability of gateway tourism. The forest supplies both water and wonder, but visitor pressure on trails and ecosystems accelerates yearly. Can 1.2 million visitors sustain what they come to see?