Parque Nacional Vulcan Masaya - Masaya Volcano National Park

I went to the Masaya Volcano National Park. They had a Visitor Center which has a great exhibit area about the history of the volcano and how volcanoes are formed geologically.   From there you can either either walk or drive to the top of the volcanoes.  There are two active volcanoes and five craters that are in active.  They also have guided tours in the day and even at night.

There are some precautions to note about visiting an active volcano. The sulfur gases and smoke are toxic so they don't recommend staying in the area longer than 5 minutes. It also can erupt or launch material at any time, so you have to be aware of the surrounding sand listen to ranger that is there for safety.  There was an area that had steps as you can see in the first picture that we could not go up due to some damage.  

The part of the park that I visited was called Plaza de Oviedo. It has a clearing for parking and is next to the opening of one of the active volcanoes.  There was a lot of the smoke and steam coming from the volcano, so seeing anymore than the edge that I was standing by was difficult.

Overlooking active volcano Masaya

After taking pictures of the volcano and its surroundings, it was time to head down.  I was with a friend who wanted to walk part of the trail while the others of the group were going to stay a bit before driving down. There was little plant life besides grass so there wasn't much shade along that path. We went about half a mile down before the group came by to get us.  I noticed that it still was another mile or so of driving down before we saw trees and other plants.  It is amazing how a volcano can change the landscape. Active volcano today, ancient volcano crater turned lake tomorrow, Meet Me Outdoors.