Volcano National Park

About this place

Masaya Volcano National Park is Nicaragua's first and largest national park, with an active volcano you can reach by car almost to the crater rim. Known in the past as Popogatepe, it is among the few places on earth where you may see a lava glow from a nearby car park, which has made its night visit the country's best-known trip. It became a national park in 1979 and covers 54 square km, with two volcanoes and five craters between 100 and 630 metres. The Masaya caldera formed about 2,500 years ago in a huge eruption. Only two lava flows have come out since the sixteenth century, in 1670 and 1772. On 23 April 2001 the crater threw rocks as far as the visitors' area, injuring one person and damaging vehicles. You stand at the rim of the Santiago crater, with thick white gas rising from it and walls layered in black, brown and red. In the evening an orange glow may show at the bottom, though the old lava lake has gone after landslides in the crater, so the glow is weaker than in older photos. The park also has green hills, a lava tube with bats, and Lake Masaya. The entrance is 18.5 km in a straight line south-east of Managua and 22.4 km west of Granada. Time at the crater is restricted, and gas can close it without warning. Sulphur dioxide is constant, so ask your doctor if you have asthma or heart disease. Do not cross the barriers, follow the rangers, and pay cash at the gate. Check the situation before you go.