National Parks

Visiting the world’s largest open volcano: trip report

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Poás Volcano National Park contains the world’s largest open volcano, complete with a vibrant greenish-blue to yellow volcanic lake that bubbles and boils. The volcano’s opening is over a mile across and bubbling sulfur can be seen between the steam.

Poás is located within a beautiful and lush Central Conservation Area of central Costa Rica that encompasses 6 National Parks and many protected areas. Birds flutter through the heavily vegetated area, including the rare resplendent quetzal, toucans, and hummingbirds. The Poás Volcano sits among rolling hills and is close to the coffee farm that sources Starbucks. 

The volcano several weeks before the September 2019 eruption.

Poás Volcano’s future as a National Park began with student Mario Boza, a Costa Rican who visited National Parks in the United States in the 1960s and was inspired. His Master’s thesis involved a plan to implement a conservation program for the Poás area. The volcano and surrounding area was granted National Park status in 1971, ensuring the area was protected and could not be developed.

The park complex includes a museum and gift shop, a lecture hall (where everyone hoping to view the caldera from the overlooking viewing platform must take safety training), and hiking trails. The 8,885 ft tall volcano has erupted many times since 1828, most recently in September 2019 and 2017. In April 12, 2017, the park was temporarily closed in apprehension of an eruption. Ash and steam clouds began to form, and a large blast on April 22 threw rocks and debris that damaged the viewing platform and nearby structures.  After this eruption, the local hiking trails (including to Lake Botos, a green high volcano lake) closed and extra infrastructure was put in place for shelter for tourists and employees near the viewing platform. 

  • Sulfur in the caldera
  • Damage from 2017 eruption
  • Damage from 2017 eruption
  • Comparison from 2017 eruption
  • More damage from 2017

The walk up to the viewing platform is 0.3 miles, and hardhats (provided by the park) must be worn. You must be in a group with a guide to go to the viewing platform and you are only allowed a maximum of 20 minutes at the platform (the gases released by the volcano aren’t so great to breathe much longer than that). The walk up/viewing platform is accessible, but a slightly higher viewing platform does require some stairs. On the walk up, the surrounding jungle becomes thinner and the effects of acid rain from the volcano can be seen readily. The platform offers stunning views of the volcanic crater and sulfur lake. On clear days, another large Costa Rican volcano, Arenal, can be seen in the distance. 

View of the neighboring area

The site is a National Park and requires an entry fee and brief safety training before you are allowed to visit the caldera rim. The path to the viewing platform is paved and is 0.3 miles each way. Nearby hiking trails have been closed for several years due to eruptions. A strong sulfur smell is always present and can bother those who are sensitive. We stayed onsite about 1.5 hours, as the hiking trails were still closed when we visited. The area around Poás is absolutely beautiful, so don’t be dismayed at the 20 minute volcano limit.

Before the 2017 eruption, photo from Wikimedia

Roosevelt elk in Olympic National Park

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The Olympic Peninsula in Washington.

The Olympic Peninsula in Washington is such a unique and beautiful area. The Dagobah-like area sports beautiful waterfalls, dense trees, and ubiquitous moss. The Hoh Rainforest is a beautiful area, and has some interesting wildlife, including the Roosevelt elk.

Roosevelt elk (Cervus elephaus roosevelti) is the largest of the 4 subspecies of elk. There is a large population in the Hoh rainforest, as well as a smaller population in Alaska near Kodiak Island (the Alaskan elk originate from 8 Hoh rainforest elk calves that were transplanted in the late 1920s to replenish a historic population; an additional herd was sent north again in the 1980s). Roosevelt elk tend to have darker hair than Rocky Mountain elk and larger antlers. Their name comes from President Theodore Roosevelt, who designated the Hoh rainforest area a National Monument in the early 1900s to protect the elk herds in the area. The National Monument later became Olympic National Park.

elk_follow_1
Yes, this is how they move elk.
Image source: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/outdoors/hunting_and_fishing/dnr-elk-leader-describes-organized-chaos-of-elk-capture/article_ae82051d-cad3-5e1d-b119-9fb5adf8c11f.html
A beautiful Roosevelt elk cow stands in the Hoh rainforest with rain running down her back and trees and moss in the background.
Roosevelt elk doe in the Hoh rainforest.

We saw this doe (oops, they’re called cows if they’re elk, apparently) from our car, it was a complete chance encounter. I was hoping to see some of the herd, and after hiking for a couple hours we decided the rain was getting too heavy and called it for the day. Just after we packed up and started driving, we turned a corner and saw this elk standing on a hillside. You can see her coat is pretty soaked from the rain. As we saw her in the spring, I have to wonder if she was pregnant or just very well-fed (there’s a lot of vegetation for them to graze in the rainforest!) She gave us a couple seconds of viewing before she went on her way. She definitely was stockier than the Rocky Mountain Elk I’m used to seeing.

Dense pine trees covered in moss stand together.
Moss-covered trees in the Hoh rainforest.

The Hoh rainforest is about 4 hours west of Seattle. It’s not the easiest area to access, but definitely worth seeing especially if you’re heading back east from the coast. As it’s a rainforest, it gets almost continual rain in the later fall through early spring. We went in April and it was pleasant temperatures, but yes, lot of rain.