Esteli volcano is a group of young fissure vents, cones and lava flows located 36 km south of Honduras in the northern interior highlands between the town of Estelí and the border. The volcanic center is not on the main volcanic front of Nicaragua, but 70 km NE of the main volcanic arc.
Some of the lava flows and cones near Esteli town could be less than 10,000 years old.
Fresh-looking, sparsely vegetated lava flows of the Esteli group could be of Holocene age. The lava flows near Estelí were faulted and slightly tilted during formation of the Estelí structural basin. Other youthful basaltic lava flows, one of which was erupted from the Bonete de Carrao cone, are located between Estelí and Jinotega. Well-preserved cones are also located in the area west and south of Ocotal. Some of the youthful lava flows in northern Nicaragua contain granitic xenoliths and xenocrysts of quartz.
