With a height of , Maderas is the smaller of the two which make up the island of

Ometepe Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes rising out of Lake Nicaragua in the Republic of Nicaragua. Its name derives from the Nahuatl words ''ome'' (two) and ''tepetl'' (mountain), meaning "two mountains". It is the largest island in Lake Ni ...

, situated in

Lake Nicaragua Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada ( es, Lago de Nicaragua, , or ) is a freshwater lake in Nicaragua. Of tectonic origin and with an area of , it is the largest lake in Central America, the 19th largest lake in the world (by area) and the t ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. Unlike Concepción, the other volcano on the island, Maderas has not been active in historical times. Its crater contains a

crater lake Crater Lake (Klamath language, Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The ...

. The slopes of Maderas are one of the few places on the Pacific side of Nicaragua where

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

grows. The only other place where this is found is at the

Mombacho Mombacho is a stratovolcano in Nicaragua, near the city of Granada. It is high. The Mombacho Volcano Nature Reserve is one of 78 protected areas of Nicaragua. Mombacho’s last eruption occurred in 1570. There is no historical knowledge of earl ...

volcano. Cloud forests are characterized by a rich plant and animal life, made possible by the high levels of humidity in the climate. Prehistoric

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

have been found at the Maderas volcano. Climbing to the top of the volcano is a popular tourist activity. Tourists are strongly encouraged by local guiding companies to hire a guide, but the trail from the common starting point at Finca Magdalena is obvious the entire way to the top. The hike to the top of the crater can be difficult, with steep inclines that get muddy when it rains. It rains often on Ometepe Island, so a slippery climb is likely, even in the dry season. The round trip hike takes between 6 and 9 hours and changes from dry forest to humid forest to cloud forest. There are a number of interesting species that dwell on the volcano, including the white-faced monkey, mountain crab, howler monkeys, and a number of butterflies including the well-known blue morphos.

References

External links

Climbing the Maderas Volcano

Ometepe Island Info - Volcán Maderas
Mountains of Nicaragua Stratovolcanoes of Nicaragua Volcanic crater lakes Rivas Department Inactive volcanoes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites {{Nicaragua-geo-stub

See also

References

External links