Maderas, Dormant stratovolcano on Ometepe Island, Rivas Department, Nicaragua

Maderas is a dormant stratovolcano on Ometepe Island that rises approximately 1,400 meters above Lake Nicaragua. Its slopes are densely forested with tropical vegetation that changes across different elevation zones.

Maderas last erupted more than eight centuries ago and is now considered extinct; its crater holds a small cold-water lagoon measuring 400 by 150 metres, reportedly first reached by farmer Casimiro Murillo on 15 April 1930. On the night of 27 September 1996, heavy rains triggered a landslide on the northeast flank that destroyed the El Corazal settlement, 36 houses and crops, affecting some 250 people and killing five children and one adult. The Volcán Maderas Nature Reserve was created by Decree 13-20, published in La Gaceta no. 213 on 9 September 1993, covering 4,100 hectares.

The volcano's Nawat name, Omeyateite, survives from the indigenous population of Ometepe. The crater lake is said to have been discovered by Casimiro Murillo, a farmer who climbed the volcano on 15 April 1930. Villages at the foot of the slopes include San Ramón, Balgüe and Mérida, and the San Ramón biological station outside San Ramón serves as a base for the ascent.

The ascent requires a certified guide and takes approximately seven hours round trip over increasingly demanding terrain. Visitors should be in good physical condition since sections are steep and can be muddy depending on the season.

The summit crater holds a deep crater lake surrounded by cloud forest, a rare feature on Nicaragua's Pacific slope. This mist-covered ecosystem remains isolated from the drier lowlands and creates conditions found in few other places in the region.