Arenal Volcano -- Costa Rica

Category: File - :Arenal volcano 1.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Arenal in January 2006

Arenal Volcano, in Spanish , is an active andesitic stratovolcano in north-western Costa Rica around 90 km north-west of San José, in the province of Alajuela, canton of San Carlos, and district of La Fortuna.

The volcano rises 1,657 metres above sea level and overlooks Lake Arenal; both are part of Arenal Volcano National Park.

Arenal is one of seven historically active Costa Rican volcanoes: Poás, Irazú, Miravalles, Orosí, Rincón de la Vieja complex, and Turrialba.

Arenal Volcano National Park () is a Costa Rican national park in the central part of the country, forming the Arenal Tilaran Conservation Area. The park encompasses the Arenal Volcano, the most active in the country, which had previously been believed to be dormant until a major eruption in 1968. It neighbours 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 3500 years-coinciding with the creation and growth of Arenal itself. The site has accommodation in the form of the Arenal Observatory Lodge and also the Museum of Vulcanicity, as well as a ranger station.

The park lies within the Arenal Tilaran Conservation Area, protecting 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 is most directly accessed from La Fortuna, but is also easily accessed via Tilarán and the north shore of Lake Arenal.

Lake Arenal is a reservoir in Costa Rica, formed by enlarging an existing small lake of the same name by the completion of a dam in 1979. It is located near the Arenal Volcano and the Monteverde cloud forest, at . Lake Arenal is the key driver in a nationwide hydroelectric project that currently produces the majority of electricity for the entire country. . Water depth generally varies between 100 and . The communities of "old" Arenal and Tronadora were submerged by the expanded lake.The Arenal National Park created in 1991, is located on Costa Rica's central northern plains. The Arenal Volcano is the most active volcano in Costa Rica. It stands 1,657 meters ( 5,435 feet) high above the eastern shores of Lake Arenal. Its conical shape typical of a strato volcano is made of successive layers of eruptions, rocks, ashes and lava. The most recent eruptive period began with a major explosive eruption in 1968, after 400 years of being dormant. The land-locked national park is also the home of Costa Rica's largest artificial lake, which lies west of the volcano. The majestic lake Arenal was enlarged to three times its original size to form a basin that feeds the hydroelectric dam, which produces 70% of Costa Rica's electricity. Under the water of the lake, lies the abandoned town of Arenal.

From November through April the dependable strong winds attract windsurfers to its western end. Many consider Lake Arenal the world's foremost windsurfing area.