Brownsberg Nature Park covers a forested plateau about 130 km south of Paramaribo, rising to roughly 500 metres above the lowlands. It is the most accessible piece of true rainforest in Suriname: you can leave the city after breakfast and be watching monkeys by late morning.
From the plateau edge you look down on the Brokopondo Reservoir, a lake of about 1,500 square kilometres created in the 1960s when the Afobaka Dam closed the Suriname River to generate power for the aluminium industry. Thousands of grey tree trunks from the drowned forest still stand in the water.
Top things to do: Brownsberg & Brokopondo
Hike to the waterfalls
Marked trails drop from the plateau to several waterfalls. The Leoval and Irenevallen are the classics, each one to two hours there and back, steep and slippery in places, with a cold natural shower at the bottom.
Look and listen for wildlife
Brownsberg is known for its primates — red howlers, whose roar carries for kilometres at dawn, spider monkeys, sakis and others — and for well over three hundred bird species, including toucans and macaws. Bright poison-dart frogs sit on the forest floor.
The view over the lake
From the plateau edge the reservoir stretches to the horizon. Sunrise, when mist lies over the water, is the reason to stay the night.
On the reservoir
Many trips add an afternoon on the lake itself: swimming, a boat ride among the dead trees, or fishing for piranha and peacock bass from one of the small island resorts. The flooding displaced thousands of Saamaka Maroons, whose transmigration villages you pass on the road.
How to get to Brownsberg & Brokopondo
- Drive south on the Afobaka road to the Maroon village of Brownsweg (about two hours), then climb a rough, steep track of some 13 km to the plateau, for which a high-clearance vehicle is needed.
- Almost all visitors go with a Paramaribo tour operator, as a long day trip or with one or two nights. These tours are sold locally rather than on GetYourGuide.
- The three-day interior tour on our tours page is the bookable alternative for seeing rainforest.
Insider tips
- Accommodation and facilities on the plateau are basic and their condition has varied over the years — ask your operator what is currently open.
- Wear proper shoes with grip; trails are muddy all year.
- It is noticeably cooler at night on the plateau: bring a long-sleeved layer.
- Illegal gold mining has damaged parts of the park’s edge. Staying on marked trails with a guide keeps you well away from it.
Tours: Brownsberg & Brokopondo
GetYourGuide lists only a handful of Suriname tours. These are the real, bookable ones most relevant to Brownsberg & Brokopondo:
Multi-day trip from €796 3-Day Tour of the Suriname Interior, All Inclusive
The only multi-day trip into the Surinamese interior on GetYourGuide. Three days out of Paramaribo with transport, meals and accommodation included: river travel, a village stay, caiman spotting after dark and a try at piranha fishing. Read the day-by-day programme on the listing to see exactly where it goes.
- Transport, meals and accommodation included
- Night-time caiman spotting
- Piranha fishing and village life
Guided tour Suriname: Peperpot Nature Park Tour & River Sunset
A short afternoon outing to Peperpot, the old coffee and cocoa plantation that has become a nature park just across the river from the city. You walk among the plantation remains, look for monkeys and birds in the regrown forest and finish with sunset on the river. A new listing with a small group size — check the live price before you plan around it.
- Forest trail on an 18th-century plantation
- Wildlife spotting with a guide
- Sunset over the river, pickup available
