Costa Rican scientists have discovered a never-before seen volcano in the San Carlos forest, 170 kilometers north of San José, a find they've been sitting on for at least a year.

A tour last week of the area led researchers to a 2,300 meter high volcano with a crater that measures 200 meters in diameter, the daily La Nación reported.

Located at mount El Porvenir, the volcano is dormant and is shaped like an upside down cone, Wilfredo Rojas, volcano expert with the University of Costa Rica, told the daily.

The find came after NASA infrared images taken in 2005 revealed El Porvenir's crater, which is roughly the size of that of well-known Irazú volcano and eight times that of Turrialba. Scientists here did not view the images until a year and a half ago, according to the newspaper report, and finally made the trek up the hill Thursday to confirm its existence.

It is the 250th documented volcano in Costa Rica.