Nevado del Tolima, Stratovolcano summit in Los Nevados National Natural Park, Colombia.

Nevado del Tolima is a stratovolcano with a snow-covered summit in Colombia's central mountain range, rising to about 5,200 meters with steep symmetrical slopes. It sits within Los Nevados National Natural Park and displays the typical features of a high-altitude volcanic landscape with glaciers and rocky terrain.

The peak formed through volcanic activity over long periods and experienced its last major eruption roughly 3,600 years ago. Volcanic processes continued shaping the mountain at lesser intensity into the early 1900s.

Indigenous peoples called the mountain Dulima before the Spanish conquest, and the name survives in one of its seven glaciers, also named Dulima. The glacier feeds the Combeima, Totare, San Romualdo and Toche rivers; the Combeima is Ibagué's main water source. Climbers pass through the frailejón valleys of the páramo, where Espeletia plants draw moisture from the air.

The climb requires proper mountaineering gear and acclimatization time because the air is thin and weather changes rapidly at altitude. It is wise to go with experienced guides and respect the physical demands of reaching this elevation.

The summit crater is a funnel 200 to 300 metres deep, formed within a cluster of Late Pleistocene to Holocene lava domes. The mountain overlies the Eocene El Bosque Batholith, dated at 49.1 ± 1.7 million years, and its last major eruption occurred about 3,600 years ago.