Central American Cordillera

The Central America Volcanic Arc (CAVA) is a chain of hundreds of volcanic formations that extend from Guatemala to northern Panama, parallel to the Pacific coastline of the Central American Isthmus. These volcanic formations range from major stratovolcanoes to lava domes and cinder cones.

The Continental Divide extends from the most northern reaches of North America to the most southern reaches of South America. It separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Cordillera de Guanacaste is a volcanic mountain range in northwestern Costa Rica, near the border with Nicaragua. The mountain range forms part of the southern region of the Continental Divide and contains a number of volcanic peaks as well as several protected areas.

The Cordillera de Talamanca is a mountain range that lies in the southeast half of Costa Rica and the far west of Panama. The range rises from sea level on the Caribbean side to over 12,000 ft and then drops back down to the General Valley on the Pacific side.

Two chains of mountains run from northwest to southeast, almost the entire length of Costa Rica. Running from the northwest to the central part of the country is the Cordillera Volcánica Central. The Cordillera de Talamanca runs from the south-central part of the country to the southeast.

The Sierra de las Minas runs east to west through the Guatemalan Highlands in the country's southeast. The Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve contains a substantial part of the range and an estimated 60 percent of Guatemala’s remaining cloud forest.

​The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is a major mountain range of Central America that runs parallel to the Pacific coast, from southern Mexico northwest-southeast across the southern half of Guatemala and into El Salvador and Honduras.

The Sierra Madre is the principal mountain system of Mexico that encloses the central Mexican Plateau. Consisting of the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre del Sur, and Sierra Madre de Oaxaca, the mountains form a broad northwest-southeast arc extending the length of Mexico.

The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, also known as the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica and known locally as the Sierra Nevada, is located in south-central Mexico and extends east-west across the country from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. This volcanic arc contains many of the country's tallest mountain peaks.