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COSTA RICA | Heredia, Costa Rica Travel Guide
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
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Poás Volcano
Poás Volcano
As volcanoes go, Poás is quite a good one – and a definite must-see on your trip. This broad, tall, semi-conical mountain is a part of the Continental Divide – its eastern slope drains to the Atlantic, and the western slope goes to the Pacific. Poás is only 60 km/37 miles from San José, but a world apart in atmosphere. Like Irazú, it has a fine paved road to the top.
As you climb its broad slopes, plantations with rows of coffee give way to strawberry and onion farms and finally to green dairy pasture before the 5,319-hectare/13,138-acre park covered by moss, bromeliads, epiphytes and wild gorse. It gets much colder as you approach the 2,708-meter (8,883-foot) summit. A new welcome center greets visitors at the path to the 1,320 meter-wide (that’s 4,342 feet) active crater (reportedly the widest in the world) that surrounds a deep, turquoise-blue lake. A wooden viewing platform lets you look down at the surreal landscape in the crater – great for photos – and the windswept lake.
Poás is semi-active, with several vents that send steam and gas rising from the edge of its crater lake. We once watched a volcanologist in his “spacesuit” taking samples deep in the crater where a vent steams almost continuously. Its last serious eruptions were in 1989, when a sulfur blow caused acid rain that destroyed 75% of Grecia’s coffee crop. In 1994 fear of an eruption caused the evacuation of tourists.
The crater that holds the lake is the fifth vent created during Poás’ active life. Hiking trials fork off from the paved road, leading to Lake Botos, a quiet lake formed in the third crater and surrounded by thick vegetation. Clouds sweep across your path suddenly, enveloping you in thick fog and blowing away just as quickly with the breeze. Dress for the cold, but use layers, as it can also get warm in the bright sun.
Poás is a sleeping giant that offers visitors an educational and fascinating day-trip with a truly beautiful ride to its summit and lots to do in the area. The fast way to the top from San José is straight through Alajuela from the highway near the airport. Follow the road through Pilas to Poasito and up you go. There are signs, so you won’t get lost (if you’re going downhill, you’re going the wrong way).
Since you probably rushed up to arrive before clouds socked in the moun- taintop, consider a more scenic route down by turning left at Poasito through Vara Blanca, then down to Birrí, Barva to Heredia. This route passes close to La Paz Waterfalls.
Last updated October 28, 2010
Posted in Costa Rica | Heredia
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