The Turrialba Volcano is an active stratovolcano (a type of conical volcano of great height composed of multiple layers of hardened lava). This volcano is located in the district of Santa Cruz, in the cantón of Turrialba, in the province of Cartago.

With its summit at a height of 3,340 m, it is the second highest volcano in Costa Rica, second only to the Irazú Volcano (3,432 m). The Turrialba Volcano shares the same base with the Irazú so that people call them the twin volcanoes. To get to the Turrialba Volcano you have to travel all the way to the town of La Pastora in the Santa Cruz district.

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From there you go to the town of La Central where you get on to the gravel road that leads to the volcano. The trip will take you approximately two hours to get from San José to La Pastora. In order to get to the summit you will have to take a 7 km walk.

This 7 km hike will take approximately two and half hours to complete depending on the physical condition of the person doing it. If you are planning on taking a car to the summit a four wheel drive is recommended.

Since the year 2007, this volcano has increased activity emitting smoke that is visible for miles around. After a few major earthquakes in 2009, the volcanic activity continues to increase creating wide vapor columns hundreds of meters high.

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This can result in a possible phreatic eruption in the near future. A phreatic eruption occurs when the magma temperature goes from 600 Co to 1170 Co and comes in contact with a surface that contains water. This water rapidly evaporates with an explosion of vapor, water, ashes, stones, etc.

The national park in which the volcano is located measures 1,577 hectares. This area was proclaimed a national park on the 30th of July, 1955. The local flora of the park has two ecosystems; the wet tropical forest and the very humid mountain forest.

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This evergreen forest has trees of varying types and sizes. The most prevalent being the oak and the encino trees. The park also has a very diversified fauna. Over 84 types of birds and 11 species of mammals such as: coyotes, rabbits, armadillos and skunks have been recorded in the park.

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For more information about the current volcanic activity of the Turrialba Volcano click on this link: 

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