Beautiful three days journey through Los Nevados National Park. We will depart from the city of Pereira, ascend across the cloud forest, pass through paramo ecosystem and some lagoons, to finally climb up to the Santa Isabel summit.
Los Nevados National Park is located on the central mountain range of the Colombian Andes and has an extension of 61.200 hectares, a maximum altitude of 5.321 meters (Nevado del Ruiz summit), and a minimum altitude of 2.600 meters at the Andean forests. The park is located between Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío and Tolima departments. Its wide geography features three volcanoes (Ruiz, Santa Isabel and Tolima), large paramo areas (alpine moorland), forests, lakes and rivers where many species of animals and plants live; some of theme endangered species.
The trip described bellow is a beautiful three days journey through Los Nevados National Park. We will depart from the city of Pereira, ascend across the cloud forest, pass through paramo ecosystem and some lagoons, to finally climb up to the Santa Isabel summit. We finish our journey in either the city of Manizales or Pereira.
Early in the morning we will be picking up the travellers at a set up place in Pereira, in order to start our one-hour travel (by car) to El Cedral. In El Cedral we will put our luggage on the mules and start hiking our way to El Jordan. We will go through a beautiful Alto Andino wet forest framed by rivers and water streams. During our hiking we will enjoy lunch over the riverbank. Afterward we will start our assent through a very different ecosystem, now, we will enter to the cloud forest, which will lead us to El Jordan. There, we will find a heartwarming home embellished with colorful gardens and farm animals all over the place, where we will spend the night in shared rooms. El Jordan is a place from where we can enjoy a view of beautiful mountains and waterfalls.
Duration: 6 hours (14 Km)
Altitude gain: 100 meters
Altitude loss: 20 meters
Initial altitude: 2.200 meters
Maximum altitude: 3.200 meters
Final altitude: 3.200 meters
We will share breakfast together before embarking on our journey towards the páramo, a unique ecosystem that exists only in five countries in the world. This environment stands out for its impressive beauty, biodiversity, and crucial role in water production. After four hours of hiking, we will reach the majestic Laguna del Otún, the largest in Los Nevados National Park. Here we can take a deep breath, recharge our energy, and continue towards Potosí, where we will have lunch and then travel by 4×4 vehicle to El Cisne refuge. Here, we will organize our mountaineering equipment and receive instructions from the guides on ascending the glacier, which will take place the following day.
Duration: 6 – 7 hours (15 Km)
Altitude gain: 900 meters
Altitude loss: 100 meters
Initial altitude: 3.200 meters
Maximum altitude: 4.100 meters
Final altitude: 4.000 meters
Very early in the morning we will initiate our transit to Conejeras in a 4×4 car; once there we will start our trekking to the Nevado Santa Isabel Summit under the light of the stars. On our way we will experience the beautiful sunrise from the Colombian Andes, thus, with this motivation, we will carry on with our way to the summit. Once we reach the glacial, we will put on our equipment to continue over the snow and, if the weather is really good, we will be able to enjoy an amazing panoramic view from the top of Nevado Santa Isabel (4.950 meters).
On our way back we will go through the same path all the way to Conejeras where a car will be waiting for us in order to take us to Potosí. We will have lunch there and carry on with our descent by car to the city of Manizales or Pereira. This is the end of our journey.
Duration: 6 – 8 hours (14 Km)
Altitude gain: 800 meters
Altitude loss: 800 meters
Initial altitude: 4.200 meters
Maximum altitude: 4.950 meters
Final altitude: 2.200 meters
+ Professional guide authorized by the National Park.
+ Medical insurance.
+ Climbing equipment: crampons, ice axes, helmets, harnesses, ropes, etc.
+ Mules to carry our luggage.
+ Full meals in the mountain, from lunch in day 1 to lunch in day 3.
+ Snacks kit for every hike.
+ Land transport: Salento – Valle de Cocora and Potosí – Conejeras – Manizales or Pereira.
+ Accommodation: two nights in peasants houses.
+ Entrance permits to Los Nevados National Natural Park.
+ Permit to climb to Santa Isabel summit.
+ All the activities described in the itinerary.
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+ Not specified expenses.
The landscapes were beautiful, from the access road, across the paramo and the snowy mountains. The Otún Lake is a wonderful place to camping. The starry nights were dreamy.
The guide was excellent. You can see his knowledge and respect for this place.
Thank you SAWA for this magical experience.
Olga Lucia Cardona
Amazing mountains.
We were lucky to reach the Summit and see the Tolima and Ruíz snowy mountains. The weather was with us despite the wind was hitting us hard.
I hope to be able to keep getting to know this territory.
No doubt I will recommend SAWA to those who want to visit this place.
Esteban Gil
The place is charming…with every new landscape you realize the cold, the tiredness and the long walks are all worthy.
The guide we had was really good, very professional, but above all with a great sense of humor 🙂
Thank you for this unforgettable experience.
