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Turrialba Volcano is the last of the Central Volcanic Mountain Range in the northeast direction, 25 km from Cartago; and as it occupies the same base as the Irazú, it can be said that these two volcanoes are ´´almost identical twins´´, although the Turrialba has been inactive for many more years than the other, the Irazú, more familiar to Costa Ricans and foreigners, since the crater itself can be reached by car. To climb the old ´´Torre Alba´´, as the Spanish called it, it is necessary to walk several kilometers.



It is a composite stratovolcano. The historical activity of this volcano occurs in 1847, 1853, 1855, 1861, 1864, 1865 and 1866 the last. In the period 1864-1866 the ashes fell in the western part of the Central Valley. At present it maintains a fumarolic activity with a temperature of 90 degrees Celsius. It has an area of ​​2 km radius around the crater. It is located in the pastora, Santa Cruz de Turrialba, Cartago. It has a maximum elevation of 3,340 meters above sea level.



Geomorphology of the summit: it has a length of approximately 2000 mt from east to west and 1200 mt from north to south. It is made up of 3 craters, each one with small fumaroles, known as: main, central and east crater.







The Turrialba volcano is a volcanic cone in Costa Rica located in the canton of Turrialba, in the province of Cartago, in the Central Cordillera, giving its name to the National Park that surrounds it, the Turrialba Volcano National Park. With its summit located at 3340 m of altitude, it is the second highest volcano in Costa Rica, surpassed only by the Irazú Volcano (3432 m). Its name is of indigenous origin and derives from that of two towns that existed in 1569, called Turrialba la grande and Turrialba la chica.







To get to the Turrialba volcano, you travel to the town La Pastora, which is approximately two hours from San José. From there, you can see the Irazú volcano. The walk (during which you can see the Talamanca mountain range in the distance) is about 7 km to the top. This journey can take about two and a half hours, but depending on the physical condition of the person, it may take more or less time to complete the tour.



On the sides of the colossus there is a tropical cloud forest, crossed in some places by dairy and agricultural farms, and among them is the source of the Turrialba River, the main river in the area of ​​the same name, which has a large waterfall of almost 100 meters of height visible a little before the bridge of this river, and from the center of town, at the height of Santa Rosa it is hidden by a mountain.

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