ADVENTURE TRAILS: Tourists pose at Tutulari Avatar Gorge in Porac, Pampanga, in this photo taken on June 12, 2026 —Photo by Madelle Calayag
TARLAC CITY, Philippines — What was once buried under ash and lahar from the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption has been transformed into one of Central Luzon’s leading ecotourism destinations, now sustaining Indigenous communities and residents who spent decades rebuilding their lives after the disaster.
Thirty-five years after the eruption displaced about 1.2 million people across Pampanga, Zambales, and Tarlac, the former disaster zones have become hubs for adventure and nature-based tourism.
At the center of this transformation is the Mount Pinatubo crater lake, often called a “beautiful disaster,” which now draws thousands of local and foreign tourists each year. Former lahar channels have also been converted into trekking routes and adventure sites that generate income for nearby communities.
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