Poás Volcano National Park () is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

that covers an area of approximately ; the summit of Poás Volcano located within the park is at an elevation of . The park 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 (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

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 commonly defined as a vent or fissure 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 oft ...

is located in the

Central Conservation Area Central Conservation Area (), 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. It contains six National Parks, several ...

located in the

Alajuela Province Alajuela () is a Provinces of Costa Rica, 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 Province, Heredia to the east, San Jose Province, ...

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 the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

coast of

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

crater A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...

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 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 and varieties of

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

tanager The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family (biology), 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 ...

s, flycatchers and

toucan Toucans (, ) are Neotropical birds in the family Ramphastidae. They are most closely related to the Semnornis, Toucan barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful Beak, bills. The family includes five genus, genera and over ...

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