Arenal Volcano’s Cone Beneath a Shifting Sky

Arenal Volcano stands 1,633 meters high near La Fortuna in Costa Rica's Alajuela Province. The stratovolcano entered a major eruptive phase in 1968 after lying dormant for centuries, an event that destroyed the villages of Tabacón, Pueblo Nuevo, and San Luis. Eruptive activity continued almost without pause until 2010, placing Arenal among the most closely studied volcanoes in Central America during that period. Costa Rica established Arenal Volcano National Park in 1991 to protect the surrounding forest, which supports tapirs, pumas, and hundreds of recorded bird species. The volcano's symmetrical shape comes from repeated layers of ash and lava deposited during its decades of activity.