Volcán Cacho Negro, Dormant volcano in Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica.
Volcán Cacho Negro is a dormant volcano in Braulio Carrillo National Park that reaches approximately 2,150 meters in elevation with a classic cone shape marked by deep ravines. A crater opening faces northwest, and the slopes are covered in dense forest crossed by mountain streams.
Cacho Negro is a stratovolcano built on the caldera structure of Barva Volcano, whose base lies at about 1,550 m; the cone rises to 2,150 m and covers roughly 30 km². Its rocks are mainly andesitic-basaltic, with prehistoric lava flows spreading radially. The main crater is deeply breached on its north side, and a parasitic cone stands at 1,915 m to the south. It was formerly called Arenales Volcano.
The name comes from the shape of the summit, whose profile resembles a bovine horn; it was formerly called Arenales Volcano. The volcano is visible from Route 32 between San José and Guápiles, and its lower flanks carry tall waterfalls. Ascents are rare: one was recorded in 1988, and a group reached the summit again in February 2017 after climbing from the Río Puerto Viejo toward the southwest.
There is no marked trail to the summit: the documented routes start from the Río Puerto Viejo and climb southwest through dense rainforest, and the 2017 ascent took nearly 30 years to repeat after 1988. The volcano has no monitoring system and the hot springs' location and temperature remain unmeasured. The cone is visible from Route 32 between San José and Guápiles.
The volcano was long known as Arenales Volcano; the present name comes from the summit profile, which resembles a bovine horn. Its main crater is deeply destroyed on the north side, leaving a breached rim open toward the northwest. The volcano can be seen from Route 32 between San José and Guápiles.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,233 contributors worldwide.