Poás Volcano National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Volcán Poás) is a

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

that covers an area of approximately ; the summit is . It was established on 25 January 1971. Depending on conditions, visitors can walk all the way to the edge of the main crater, but on 13 April 2017 the park was closed to visitors due to an explosive eruption on the evening of 12 April. Still further eruptions, including on Easter, 16 April, caused the park to be closed until August 2018. Over the years, the park has been frequently closed to visitors due to precautions because of water vapor and

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular fo ...

gas emissions. The status of the park being subject to change, potential visitors should check the current conditions at the park. Poas Volcano erupted twice briefly in September 2019. The

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

is located in the

Central Conservation Area Central Conservation Area ( es, Área de Conservación Central (ACC)), is an administrative area which is managed by SINAC for the purposes of conservation in the central part of Costa Rica, notably the volcanic areas of the Cordillera Central. ...

located in the

Alajuela Province Alajuela () is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the north-central part of the country, bordering Nicaragua to the north. It also borders the provinces of Heredia to the east, San José to the south, Puntarenas to the southwest and ...

near the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

coast of

, which encompasses the area around the Poás Volcano. The main

crater Crater may refer to: Landforms * Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet * Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surf ...

is wide and is quite active with frequent small geyser and lava eruptions, however the last major eruptions were during 1952–54. Two more craters make up parts of the park, the extinct Von Frantzuis crater and the Botos crater. Lake Botos is a beautiful cold, green water

crater lake Crater Lake ( 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 lake partly fill ...

with a diameter of . The Botos

has not erupted for about 7,500 years. Well-marked trails lead to the two inactive craters, conditions permitting.

Flora and fauna

The park maintains a variety of wild plant and animal species, such as the Poas magnolia bird species, including the clay-colored robin, black guan,

resplendent quetzal The resplendent quetzal (''Pharomachrus mocinno'') is a small bird found in southern Mexico and Central America, with two recognized subspecies, ''P. m. mocinno'' and ''P. m. costaricensis''. These animals live in tropical forests, particularly ...

and varieties of

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are ...

tanager The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropica ...

s, flycatchers and

toucan Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five g ...

s. Mammals within the park include coyotes, rabbits, and marmots.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poas Volcano National Park Geography of Alajuela Province National parks of Costa Rica Protected areas established in 1971 Tourist attractions in Alajuela Province Talamancan montane forests

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links