Take photos of the barren wasteland and the gurgling cauldron, hike up to a second crater in the national park. The trails are paved and very easy to navigate. Parts of the forest you will walk through is a reminder of the creepy forest in the Wizard of Oz. Climb another 200 ft to the next observation deck. The payoff was worth the effort! The extinct crater below the viewing platform contains a crystal clear fresh water lake called Laguna Botos. It is encompassed by dense forest and is arrestingly beautiful…a literal paradise.

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Poas is an active volcano with frequent small geyser and lava eruptions.  The visitors center has interactive educational presentations and activitiesm. It’s not every day that one gets to peer directly into the mouth of the world’s largest active volcano.

The active volcano erupted just after noon Tuesday Feb. 25, 2014 in Poás Volcano National Park.  Though these explosions occur with relative frequency, they can still prove fatal if they catch hikers unaware.

Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) captured the moment a dark cloud exploded about 1,000 feet in the air from a massive crater of the Poás Volcano.The research institute, affiliated with the National University of Costa Rica, said the blast was a phreatic explosion which occurs when magma or hot rocks heat surface water to the point where it boils and quickly explodes in a burst of steam.