eartheum.com - Cerro Negro, Nicaragua
Cerro Negro (Black Hill) is one of the youngest cinder cone volcanoes in the workld
January 27, 2018
Cerro Negro, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Cordillera de los Maribios mountain range
Cerro Negro, an active cinder cone volcano in Nicaragua, is a giant pile of rock. Easy to climb and fun to volcano board down. Being an active volcano, you can feel the heat emanate from the caldera.
We went on a volcano boarding tour out of Leon in Nicaragua. It was about $40/person and I would say it was worth it. The Nicaraguan government won't really let you go explore any of their volcanos without a guide, so for $40 it was worth it. The tour came with a local guide that knew the history of the volcano and gave us the pointers on how to successfully volcano board down it. So, volcano boarding consists of wearing thick coveralls, goggles, and sliding down the giant pile of lava rocks on a plywood board. It was fun, and I would have done it all day. Unfortunately, the tour only let us do it once. The hike to the top of the volcano was only a mile and climbed about 600 feet. The only difficult part is that the trail goes through some loose rock, so you must watch your footing. But, it's easy enough.

The tour took us to the edge of the caldera, from which you could smell the fresh scent of sulfur. The volcano is relatively young, and you can see all the evidence of its recent activity. The ground was cool to the touch, but if you dug down just 5 inches then the rocks were blistering hot. The geology of this place is very fascinating. Cerro Negro is in a chain of other volcanos, and the view from the top shows you how they're all connected.
Volcano Cerro Negro, Nicaragua
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