HIKING THE COCORA VALLEY LOOP IN LOS NEVADOS NP

TIME VISITED: November 2017 BUSY ? NO

WEATHER: Mid 70s⛅️ REASON FOR VISIT: Cocora Valley

WHERE TO STAY: El Viajero Hostel EXPENSIVE? $

For the next month I will be exploring Colombia with one of my best friend’s Lotti- our first stop is Salento and we are so happy to be here! Salento was one of the towns we almost didn’t visit and after two days here we’ve learned that would have been a huge mistake, Salento is a place you can’t miss when visiting Colombia. Just 20 minutes from Salento you arrive in Cocora Valley, a part of Los Nevados National Park, here you can walk among the worlds tallest palm tree’s, the wax palm, these palms are only found in some parts of Colombia and Peru and can grow up to 200 feet tall! We loved Cocora Valley so much we went two days in a row.

WHAT TO BRING

Rain jacket or poncho
Packed lunch (many restaurants offer them in Salento, we got ours from Brunch’s Diner and I couldn’t recommend them more, they even show you a map of the valley and explain the stops along the way before you leave!)
Sunglasses
Sunscreen
Bug Spray
Hiking boots
Camera
At least 1.5 L of water

GETTING THERE

I recommend staying at El Viajero Hostel in Salento, the views are incredible and the staff is great, just five minutes from the hostel you can walk to the town square and from here take a jeep to the valley. The jeeps all line up each morning and the first tour starts at 6:20 then every hour until 11:30 am- each jeep take groups of 11 to the valley. Yes, you read that right they cram 11 people in each jeep, 8 inside and 3 holding on on the back. The ride to the valley is quick, fairly smooth and extremely beautiful.

You will then arrive in Cocora and here you will pay your driver (3800 COP this is a one way payment). There is a sneak peek of the trees here in town, but just a fraction of how many you will see at the end of your hike.

We were told that some paths are so muddy that you can have mud up to your knees, we never even had mud up to our ankles and we were here during rainy season so we thought that was definitely an exaggeration. BUT then we talked with a friend back at the hostel that went the same day and got lost and he said he had mud up to his knees so definitely follow the paths and maps.

Insider tip: Here in Cocora (and from some hostels in Salento) you can rent rain boots-or Wellies like my friend Lotti calls them-to hike in, if you don’t want to get your shoes muddy. Either way I absolutely recommend wearing hiking boots some friends did it in Nikes and not only did they fall a few times but their shoes were so dirty at the end.

THE HIKE

This hike is about 12 km long, we were told it takes about six hours but we stopped a lot, even once for 30 minutes, and it only took us four and a half hours. You can walk this hike or for more money take a horse the whole way, hiking ourselves is more our style but the horses were nice to see along the way. This hike was challenging at some parts but overall I would say it was quite easy, to start this hike you will walk a short distance from the jeeps and take a right at the blue gate.

You will know you are heading the right way when a few minutes later you’ll come to a trout farm. I recommend using the bathrooms here, you will only have one other bathroom (about the half way point) the entire hike! You’ll pretty much go in between countryside and jungle for about 2 hours (depending how many times to stop to take pictures) and you will cross 7 bridges that all look similar to this.

The bridges are pretty sturdy but I still recommend going one at a time.

Since we were hiking through the jungle most of the time I thought I would see a lot more mosquitos but I only saw one-I’d still recommend bringing spray just in case.

Although most of the bridges are sturdy be prepared for a couple that aren’t. Here’s one that was a bit more difficult to get across, there were also a few places where there were mini landslides so be extra careful.

But if you are on horseback this won’t be an issue for you !

After those two hours you will see a small sign that says Acaime, here you can either go right for a small detour (20 minutes each way) to the hummingbird sanctuary or left to continue on to see the valley. We opted out on the sanctuary because I’ve been to one before and the two girls I was with weren’t too interested but we heard it is pretty cool, entrance is 5000 COP ($2 US) and you can see 6 different kinds of hummingbirds and enjoy a warm drink there.

We went left and this is where the hike gets more difficult. It’s pretty much straight up for 20-40 minutes depending on your speed. You will then reach Fca La Montana you’ll know because you’ll see an adorable house and this sign. You can buy a hot drink here and enjoy your packed lunch you brought or keep going to enjoy lunch at the view point(Mirador) about 30-45 minutes further.

I love this house they had adorable cows and they even had their own star fruit fruit tree out front and the coolest succulents !!!

From here it’s smooth sailing and in my opinion the best part! You enjoyed a two hour muddy walk through the jungle, worked your ass off for a bit to get up the hill and now it’s just five kilometers back to the town of Cocora where you’ll catch a Jeep back to Salento. Take your time walking down this road, there are a few small gates that are easy to miss and they lead to view points that you definitely don’t want to miss!

I’ll let the pictures do the talking for a bit now.

We even met a new friend Gaet, from Belgium, who we can’t wait to meet up with in two weeks in Cartagena!

The weather does change quickly in the valley, it can be sunny and then 30 seconds later very rainy and foggy, so if you want a better picture just wait a bit!

For those who don’t want to do the full hike, you can walk straight to this main view point and it takes about an hour uphill. I love the full loop because the many scenery changes, it is a great challenge and to see the trees at the end is extremely rewarding. The second day we came we went straight to the view, either way you will love this valley!