Jonathan Cohen's photos with the keyword: Poás Volcano National Park

The eco system at the Poás volcano is very unusual. There are large heart-shaped philodendron leaves popularly called "Poor Man’s Umbrella" (more scientifically they are Gunnera insignis) as well as huge ferns, mosses, and bromeliads. Yellow and pink wild flowers line the paths to the crater. Especially noticeable are the Escolonia Flowers (Melastoma Taceae).

The eco system at the Poás volcano is very unusual. There are large heart-shaped philodendron leaves popularly called "Poor Man’s Umbrella" (more scientifically they are Gunnera insignis) as well as huge ferns, mosses, and bromeliads. Yellow and pink wild flowers line the paths to the crater. Especially noticeable are the Escolonia Flowers (Melastoma Taceae).

The eco system at the Poás volcano is very unusual. There are large heart-shaped philodendron leaves popularly called "Poor Man’s Umbrella" (more scientifically they are Gunnera insignis) as well as huge ferns, mosses, and bromeliads. Yellow and pink wild flowers line the paths to the crater. Especially noticeable are the Escolonia Flowers (Melastoma Taceae).

The eco system at the Poás volcano is very unusual. There are large heart-shaped philodendron leaves popularly called "Poor Man’s Umbrella" (more scientifically they are Gunnera insignis) as well as huge ferns, mosses, and bromeliads. Yellow and pink wild flowers line the paths to the crater. Especially noticeable are the Escolonia Flowers (Melastoma Taceae).

Lake Botos, the southern lake, fills an inactive crater, which last erupted some 10,000 years ago. It is cold and clear, and is surrounded by a cloud forest located within the Poás Volcano National Park. Lake Botos fills a beautiful crater with a diameter of 1,312 ft (400 m). It has a beautiful jade color and is frequented by many of the bird species in the park.

Poás clouds over well before noon year round and in the rainy season it may not clear off at all.

Although the last major eruption was in 1910, visitors can still see geysers explode into the air up to 820 ft (250 m) high. Chances of getting wet are pretty remote as the crater descends almost 1,000 ft (300 m) and is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world. Standing on the rim, visitors often smell the sulfur in the air, which at times has proven to be acidic enough for the park to close. It is from this crater that the effects of acid rain can be seen on the vegetation surrounding the landscape. Around the huge main-crater is the beautifully blue-green colored Botos Lake (Laguna Botos) and on the opposite side, the von Frantzius cone. Poás was near the epicenter of a 6.1-magnitude earthquake in January 2009 that killed at least forty people and affected Fraijanes, Vara Blanca, Cinchona (the most affected area), the capital San José, and the Central Valley region of Costa Rica. There was also eruptive activity in 2009 involving minor phreatic eruptions and landslides within the northern active crater. Poás eruptions often include geyser-like ejections of crater-lake water. On February 25, 2014, a webcam from the 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. This volcano remains active today

Rising up to 8,885 ft (2,708 m), Poás remains one of Costa Rica's largest and most active volcanoes. Walking just 15 minutes from the visitor's center, the main crater supplies guests with a spectacular view. At almost a mile in diameter (1.6 km), the crater’s rain-fed sulfuric pool still bubbles and emits smoke into the air, reminding you of its imposing activity. There are two crater lakes near the summit. The northern lake is known as the Laguna Caliente ("hot lagoon") and is located at a height of 2,300 m in a crater approximately 1.7 km wide and 290–300 m deep. It is one of the world’s most acidic lakes. The acidity varies after rain and changes in volcanic activity, sometimes reaching a pH of almost 0; consequently, it supports little or no aquatic life. The bottom of this lake is covered with a layer of liquid sulphur. Acid gases create acid rain and acid fog, causing damage to surrounding ecosystems and often irritation of eyes and lungs.