Wonderful Cajas National Park tour from Cuenca
Description
Discover the magic of Cajas National Park, one of the most beautiful places in South America, on a full day tour of approximately 7 hours. Explore and learn about the Andean vegetation. In this spectacular place you can enjoy a lake system that has more than 200 lakes of glacial origin. In addition to the beautiful landscape, you can enjoy the presence of beautiful birds, llamas and alpacas. The park is located 30km west of the city of Cuenca, between 3160 and 4450masl, the surface area of the park is 28544 hectares and the ecosystem known as paramo predominates. Experience the authentic!
Tour Options
Itinerary
The guide will pick you up from your hotel or apartment to travel 1 hour to the 3 Cruces viewpoint. During the trip the guide will give you relevant information about the area.
Here at the 3 Cruces viewpoint, the guide will explain about the continental watershed and also about the religious importance of this place, especially for travelers. For photography lovers, when the weather permits, you can take excellent photos of the Cajas Park landscape from its different viewpoints.
After visiting 3 Cruces you will travel 10 minutes to reach the middle part of Cajas Park located at 3,960masl., here you will walk around 3 hours in the Toreadora area, depending on the pace of the group. The trek will give you the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery, including the Polylepis Forest, several glacial lakes and the andean paramo also know as moorland, your guide will provide information about the flora and fauna of the area. And if you like natural photography Cajas Park is an amazing place for that. If you have luck there is a chance to see lamas.
LUNCH TIME: Ecuadorian food is very varied and delicious. On this tour you will have the opportunity to try a delicious local soup plus a main course and for our vegetarian clients we have a very good option for them.
After lunch you will travel 20 minutes to have a short complementary visit to the valley of Llaviuco, located in the lower part of the Cajas National Park at approximately 3200 meters above sea level. Here you can enjoy a different landscape with many native trees that are part of the Andean mountain forest, your guide will explain about some medicinal and representative plants of this ecosystem, you can also see the origin of the Tomebamba River, considered the most important river in the city of Cuenca.
After this visit the guide will take you back to the city of Cuenca to drop you off at your hotel, the trip will take around 1 hour.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
If you will stay in an Airbnb, please provide us the exact address in advance.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Minimum age is 6 years
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Children rate applies only when sharing with 1 paying adult
Reviews(21)
Our guide, Moses, was excellent. He was friendly and informative and knew many of the plants and wildlife we encountered on our hike. We appreciated his pace with breaks as needed, while still finishing the hike a little early, which left time to visit a museum back in Cuenca. Fantastic experience and an excellent guide!
Tour is a great way to experience Las Cajas and I would highly recommend. Dress in layers! Pedro was an excellent guide. Tour includes a very nice ~2 hour hike, a visit to a lookout (which with the clouds, we couldn't see anything), lunch, and a visit to a valley. It's a very easy, stress-free way to get a feeling for the landscape, which is very beautiful. Our total group was only 3 people, so allows for a more personal tour too.
Dear friends. Thank you very much for leaving your comment about your tour. It was a pleasure for Polylepis Tours and our guide Pedro to help you with this tour to the Cajas National Park. If you need anything in the future, we are at your service. Greetings from Polylepis Tours Ecuador
The guide was very knowledgeable about Cajas, however, I reserved a full day (8 hour) trip and it only lasted 6 hours. That was a bummer. We also only hiked one fairly easy trail, followed by walking up some stairs to a viewpoint with a radio tower. The tour didnt blow me away.
Dear friend. Thank you for your comment. Our guide told us in his report that if you finished a little early since you are in very good shape and the weather was super nice, which made the walk easier. We hope that apart from the fact that you finished your tour earlier, you enjoyed the visit of the Cajas and the guidance of Wilson. Thanks for everything, best regards
The visit was with a cold and rainy day, Diego allowed us to walk for at least an hour and know its ecosystem and beauty.
Estimados Amigos Muchas gracias por su comentario, fue un placer para Polylepis Tours Ecuador y Diego el ayudarles con este tour visitando unos de los parque nacionales más importantes como es el Parque Nacional Cajas. Cualquier cosa en el futuro estamos a la orden. Saludos de Polylepis Tours Ecuador Team
Wonderful walk through the boxes with guides Edison and Flavio. They were good guides, attentive, dedicated, friendly and accommodating.
Estimados Amigos Muchas gracias por su comentario fue un gusto para Polylepis Tours Ecuador, el asistirle con esta excursión en el Parque Nacional Cajas, cualquier cosa que necesite en el futuro estamos a las órdenes. Saludos del Equipo de Polylepis Tours Ecuador.
Beautiful experience. The very professional guide, knowledgeable of the area, gentle and concerned to provide a good day. Beautiful landscapes. Excellent Agency Service. Highly recommended
Estimados Amigos Muchas gracias por su comentario fue un gusto para Polylepis Tours Ecuador, el asistirle con esta excursión en el Parque Nacional Cajas, cualquier cosa que necesite en el futuro estamos a las órdenes. Saludos del Equipo de Polylepis Tours Ecuador.
An excellent excursion. Edison is very competent, he explains a lot, really interesting. I think it is the best guide for this park. Cajas Park is splendid but requires a guide because you get lost in it and you would like to know the different plants you have never seen. On the other hand you have to think about booking the tour in advance to be sure to have it.
Dear Friend Thank you for your comment, it was a pleasure for Polylepis Tours Ecuador to help you with this visit Cajas National Park and enjoy its flora, fauna and amazing landscape. We are at your command for anything. Best Regards from Polylepis Tours Ecuador Team.
Edison was such a knowledgeable tour guide; we learned a ton about the local plants, geology, and ecosystems. He showed us two of the major areas of Cajas and we felt that we got a good feel for the park and all it has to offer. Edison also brought us to a lovely local restaurant. We had a great day!
Dear Friend Thank you for your comment, it was a pleasure for Polylepis Tours Ecuador to help you with this visit Cajas National Park and enjoy its flora, fauna and amazing landscape. We are at your command for anything. Best Regards from Polylepis Tours Ecuador Team.
Hiking through Cajas National Park was an awesome experience! On the car ride there, Eddy already started to share a bit about the history of the park and the region. He would point things out along the way to give insight into the local culture. We had a perfect day for the hike. It took us 3 hours and it was very rewarding. Eddy explained a lot about the history of the trail, and pointed out special plants as we walked along the trail. I was glad to have a guide for this experience as he was able to show us exactly where to go and what was special about the area.
Dear Friends. Thank you very much for your comment, it was a pleasure for Polylepis Tours Ecuador and our guide Edison, to help you with this tour in Cajas National Park. . Thank you for enjoying the Ecuadorian nature, culture and people. We are at your service for whatever you need. Greetings from Polylepis Tours Ecuador
This was one of the most interesting experiences I’ve had in Ecuador! Our guide Adrian was very knowledgeable about the local fauna and flora. We did 2 hikes, one at lower and one at higher altitude. It was amazing to see the huge difference between these 2 places. Both hikes were incredibly beautiful, but not too demanding for people not used to hiking a lot. We finished with a great lunch at a trout farm. Although you can you to the Cajas national park on your own, I would recommend going there with Polylepsis. It makes it way more interesting, because they know the best spots and have a lot of knowledge about the place.
Dear friend Thank you for your comment, it was a pleasure for our guide and Polylepis Tours to help you with this tour in Cajas National Park. We wish you luck for your next trips and we look forward to seeing you in the future. Kind regards from Polylepis Tours Ecuador team.
