Puracé National Natural Park

The Puracé National Natural Park () is a national park. It is in the Andes mountains in Colombia. It is southeast of the city of Popayán in the Cordillera Central mountain range. The active volcano Puracé, is in the park. Four of the country's most important rivers originate within the area: Magdalena River, Cauca River, Japurá River and Patía River.

General
People made this place into a park in 1961. It was the first national park in the Cauca Department. During the 1990s, the FARC army camped in the park, but they do not do this so much any more because, in 2002, President of Colombia Álvaro Uribe, sent another army to fight them.

The only active volcano in the area is Puracé. It is  high above sea level. The Paletará valley is at the bottom of the mountain. There are two bigger volcanoes in the park, Azúcar () and Coconuco (), and four more between  and  high, but they are not active volcanoes.

People go to the park through Popayán, capital of the Department of Cauca. They get there on the Pan-American highway. Then they take the road to the town of Puracé. From Puracé, they go to a place called "El Crucero," and then to Pilimbalá. Or people can go to the park from an old Colombian police base 4000 meters above sea level, through the Puracé's sulfur mines.

 Climate 
During the day, the highest temperatures are between , and the coldest are below . About  of rain falls every year. There is frost high in the hills above , especially above .

Animals and plants
Over 200 orchid flower plants grow in the park. The Colombian pine, Andean oak, and Wax palm tree all grow in the park. More than 160 species of birds live in the park, for example hummingbirds, ducks, and birds that eat meat. Many mammals live in the park, for example the spectacled bear, mountain tapir, wooly monkey, howler monkey, tufted capuchin, cougar, and pudú. The San Diego Zoo helped bring Andean condors back to the park in the 1990s.

 Gallery 

 People 
The Coconuco indigenous people live in the Pilimbalá area. Visitors can go there to visit and buy food. The Guambiano people live nearby.

Footnotes

References

Other websites

The park's page at Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia 
Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Popayán 
Information about Puracé in the Global Volcanism Program

Category:National parks in Colombia