The park was temporarily closed by the authorities since March 31, 2023 because the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano has increased its activity and there are fears of a possible eruption.

It is highly recommend for visitors to consult the state of volcanic activity in the Servicio Geológico Colombiano's web page before their visit.

Glacial activity has shaped the park's landscape 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above mean sea level, leaving U-shaped valleys and moraines behind.

The park's hydrographic networks supply water to over for 2,000,000 inhabitants in the region, to coffee-growers and to most of the rice and cotton crops in the Tolima Department.

Further proof of this was the disappearance of the Ice Cathedrals, which were huge caverns in the lower part of the Nevado del Ruiz glaciers.

The surviving glaciers face a constant process of melting, the situation being critical for the Tolima and Santa Isabel volcanoes, whose glacial areas are less than one square kilometer each.

The páramo is composed of grassland, peat bog, scrubland, swamps and lagoons and occupies 80% of the park's area.

[1][2][3] Noteworthy mammals include the mountain tapir, spectacled bear, northern pudú, oncilla, cougar and white-eared opossum.

[notes 1] [4] [5] [6] [7] Media related to Parque Nacional Natural de los Nevados at Wikimedia Commons