With more than 800 volcanoes, it is one of the most dense and diverse volcanic parks on the planet. For this reason and for its scenic beauty, a large part of the reserve is part of a proposed World Natural Heritage site by UNESCO. It has extensive landscapes covered with colorful volcanic materials, which are home to a sanctuary of fauna and flora.

Payunia comprises a large territory of plains and hillsides completely covered with black and reddish materials that are the expression of various volcanic manifestations. The configuration of the landscape includes around 800 retroarc volcanic cones, with extensive fields of molten rock –lava- and fragmented materials –ashes, lapillis and bombs- that dazzle the visitor and highlight the power, dynamics and variability of the Earth’s geology. The volcanic activity that shaped the current landscape occurred at the end of the Tertiary period –considered a recent geological time- and continued, although alternately, until prehistoric times.