The majority of visitors make their way around this magnificent park in vehicles, stopping for short walks in the páramos (humid plains) and heading for the pinkish-coloured lava flows. The park covers a 58 000ha stretch of the Andes that is dotted with five snow-capped peaks including El Ruiz, a still active volcano in the extreme north of the park. The spectacular terrain is home to spectacled bears, mountain tapirs, Andean white-eared opossums, elusive pumas, and squirrels, bats and birds.