Poás National Park Costa Rica
Is Poás National Park Open?
Is Poas National Park open? The answer is yes. Excluding holidays, the hours are between 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
For years, visiting Poás Volcano has been a top highlight for many guests of Costa Rica tours by Caravan.
Located in the second most-visited national park in Costa Rica, Poás volcano normally enjoys over 250,000 visitors each year. Visitors came from all over the world to marvel at the two craters of Poás volcano, which are bordered by lush tropical rainforests and rises more than 8,000 feet above sea level.
However, in April of 2017, Poás Volcano National Park was temporarily closed to visitors due to increased volcanic activity. The park was only expected to remain closed for a couple of days but subsequent violent eruptions on April 22 and again on June 6, 2017, forced Poás Volcano National Park to be closed indefinitely.
When did Poas National Park open? It opened to the public again on August 21, 2018. However, the Park experienced a 2-day closure in February of 2019 due to ash emissions. Poás Park has since re-opened but with restrictions in place.
Damaged Poás Volcano Trails
The multiple violent volcanic eruptions of Poas volcano in April of 2017 propelled hot rocks (some as large as 2 meters wide) into the air. They damaged parts of the dome around the volcanic crater plus some of the Poás Park trails and infrastructures such as fencing and water pipes. Emissions of sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide gases, plus other toxic vapors made it too dangerous to allow visitors until late summer of 2018.
Local authorities continue to closely monitor the situation at the volcano’s crater as well as surrounding areas including Costa Rica’s capital San Jose, which is less than an hour Southeast of Poás Volcano.
Poas National Park Open But With Restrictions
Scientists continue to monitor the volcano’s activity. Safety is of the utmost concern for visitors to Poas Volcano National Park. For now, the area has been deemed safe from further volcanic activity. Local officials continue to assess the damage and make any necessary repairs to the infrastructures before permanently re-opening Poas Volcano National Park to the public.
Poas Volcano has only had about half a dozen eruptions in the last one hundred years or so. In 1989, Poas closed briefly for a minor eruption and closed several times again in 1995 due to lesser volcanic activity.
Even though Poas National Park is open, in light of these recent volcanic eruptions and park closures, Caravan tour guests now visit the Wildlife Rescue Center instead. They also enjoy a guided coffee plantation tour as part of their fully guided, all-inclusive Costa Rica tour.
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