Arenal Volcano National Park

About

Arenal Volcano National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal) is a Costa Rican national park in the central part of the country, part of the Arenal Huetar Norte Conservation Area. The park protects eight of Costa Rica's 12 life zones and 16 protected reserves in the region between the Guanacaste and Tilarán mountain ranges, and including Lake Arenal.

The park encompasses the Arenal Volcano, the most active in the country, which was believed to be dormant until a major eruption in 1968. The 1968 explosive eruption killed 78 people and devastated several villages on the volcano's western flank. The continuous eruptive activity that began in 1968 ended in December 2010, when the volcano returned to a state of dormancy. It neighbors Lake Arenal, which is the site of the country's largest hydroelectricity project, the Lake Arenal Dam. The park also contains a second volcano, Chato, whose crater contains a lagoon. It is also called Cerro Chato (literally Mount Chato) as it has been inactive for around 3,500 years – coinciding with the creation and growth of Arenal itself.