Hiking isn’t the first activity that comes to mind when Colombia comes up. But little do people know that aside from coffee, Escobar, and Catagena, Colombia is full of rich, natural landscapes, some of which are unique to the world. Los Nevados National Park has one of these unique ecosystems called the Páramo. The Páramo is a region of high-altitude plains and wetlands which only exist in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. This special ecosystem has a remarkability ability to store water through its vegetation, acting as a water catchment to supply streams, rivers, and aquifers. Los Nevados is also home to Valle Del Cocora, or Cocora Valley, home to the tallest palm trees in the world. Palm trees on lush mountain sides surrounded by coffee districts, Los Nevados is a must-see destination for any hiker.
To learn more general tips about traveling to Colombia, check out our Destination: Colombia Travel Guide. Manizales is a great city for an extended stay if you are thinking about exploring this area, check out our full Manizales Travel Guide here.
HOW TO GET HERE
You can access the Cocora Valley and Los Nevados National Park from Salento, a cute and colorful colonial town popular with both Colombian tourists and backpackers. Salento is a smaller town but has lots of hostels, hotels, and restaurants. A little touristy for our taste, but a pleasant stopover for a day or two if you wanna check out the Cocora Valley.
To reach Salento from Manizales or Perreira: It was pretty easy to show up at the bus station in Manizales and get a same-day ticket to Perreira and from there to Salento. There are no direct routes from Manizales to Salento. From Manizales to Perreira took a little over an hour and from Perreira to Salento was about 30-40 minutes.
From Salento to Cocora Valley: The main way to the Cocora Valley from Salento is via “Willys” which are 4-wheel drive Jeeps. These jeeps are usually crammed with 10+ people (some standing in the back), but are best suited for the ~30 minute uphill drive to Cocora. Be careful- these jeeps are readily available during the day time but seem to have their regular service shut down after sunset
From Salento to Perreira or Manizales: You can get easy same-day tickets from Salento to Perreira at the bus station in Salento with buses leaving every hour. From Perreira getting a same-day bus ticket to Manizales is also easy.
WHAT TO DO
Parque Central: This is the main square of Salento. Here you will find vendors selling arepas, patacones, grilled corn (must have), fruits, ice cream, and other desserts. This is also where you can find Willy transportation to Cocora Valley.
*Valle de Cocora: Valle de Cocora is a unique and bizarre landscape of the world. Here you will find the world’s tallest palm trees (wax palms) not on the beachside but rather lined up along mountainsides and in a beautiful green valley with free-roaming horses. You can see some footage of what the Cocora Valley looks like in our drone video. There are plenty of hikes, ranging from short to long, making the valley easy to experience for all ages. Horseback riding is also a popular option to explore the valley and there are many horse tour operators easily accessible. Small entrance fee of 6,000 COP (~$1.50) to enter the valley.
HIKES
You will find the entry point to the Valle de Cocora hikes on the right side of the main road after passing the Willy Jeep Parking on the left and Café Los Andes on the right. There is a small entrance fee of 6,000 COP (~$1.50) to enter. We recommend getting there as early as possible (7AM) to avoid the crowds. There are several routes you can take depending on what you’d like to see and your fitness level.
Image: The Orange Backpack
Route 1: To Bosque de Palmas and back 2km (1.24 miles). If you have small children or elderly in your group, this would probably be the best option. 1 km in will bring you to the Bosque de Palmas (Forest of Palms) where you can relax in a beautiful valley of wax palms, the tallest palm trees in the world. This route is a gradual incline all the way up, but there are plenty of photo stops along the way. Bosque de Palmas is a beautiful place to picnic, so bring a blanket and some snacks to chill and take in the views. Lots of beautiful horses roaming around.
Route 2: To Mirador Viewpoint 2 and back 4.6 km (2.85 miles). This is a slightly more strenuous route as you must continue to hike uphill to the viewpoints over the valley, but totally doable for anyone of average fitness. Make sure you bring water and snacks as the uphill trek can be dehydrating in the sun. From the viewpoint you can either return to the start point through the Cocora valley, or take an alternate route down (marked on map by blue arrows).
Route 3: To Acaime Reserva and La Truchera 12km (7.45 miles). For a longer day hike, continue past the viewpoints, past the mountain farm to the hummingbird reserve located at 6.8km. To be honest, we thought the hummingbird sanctuary at Acaime Reserva was nothing special. If you are a hummingbird enthusiast and want to burn some calories, go ahead with this journey, but if we could do it again we would probably stop at the Mountain Farm at 4.5km and turn around from there. The views peak at the mountain farm, and the trail to La Truchera is hard to find and not well-marked. If going from Acaime Reserva to La Truchera, we highly recommend downloading the trail on AllTrails prior to your trek, to ensure you have some navigation assistance.
To take the alternate route downhill to La Truchera, you must pay a small fee (10COP, ~$2.50) to access the private trail that follows down the Rio San Jos river. This is a downhill shortcut rather than hiking 6.8km back via a more strenuous uphill route
Multi-day Trek: There are many options for continuing onto a multi-day trek from Cocora Valley into Los Nevados National Park. Our original plan was to copy this 52.9km (40 miles) trek from Kraig Adams but we unfortunately got unlucky with some torrential downpour and flash floods. Remember to always be prepared for the worst and only hike in safe conditions. To read about some of the other multi-day treks we have done and what we always pack, check out our guides on Hiking Acatenango and Hiking the Annapurna Circuit.
WHERE TO STAY
Cabañas Valle del Cocora La Truchera: If you are planning on doing a serious trek through Los Nevados, this would be an ideal location to stay the night before to get an early start. There is a trail into Los Nevados National Park which starts right from their property. The Cocora Valley Trail Route 3 from above actually ends here. We booked one of their two chalets for ~$38 which came with breakfast and a nice view of the valley. They also have a hostel and other accommodations which are not as lux. We were not aware at the time of booking that this property is also a trout farm. Be prepared for a fishy smell and lurking vultures. The hosts were very sweet and accommodating and the location was super convenient. $
*Hotel Mirador del Cocora: Probably the most luxurious of the lux options in Salento. For ~$120 we got a junior suite with free breakfast and a balcony jacuzzi tub facing a beautiful viewpoint of the Cocora Valley. Even the shower had beautiful outdoor views. King size bed, marble floors, large TV, all the amenities- this is definitely a treat yourself kind of place. This was going to be our post-Los Nevados trek reward. $$$
WHERE TO EAT
Coco bowl: Colombian food unfortunately is not the healthiest so we were pleasantly surprised to find Coco Bowl- a vegetarian cafe specializing in smoothies and veggie bowls. Not the best banh mi we ever had, but the favorito bowl had a tasty dressing with some guilt-free veggies. They also had a great-looking stir fry. Nice option if you’re trying to find healthier eats in Salento or if you’re tired of arepas 28 ways. $$
Restaurante El Rincón de La Tiznada: Not many restaurants up in Cocora Valley and we weren’t really trying to eat trucha (trout) after our trout farm stay. This place had a vegetarian option which came with paragon (fried green plantain), rice, mushrooms, and hogoa (a tomato and onion salsa). We got some eggs on the side to add protein after our hike. Nothing special, but one of the few options that is not trucha or carne (meat).
Other places we looked into but didn’t get to try:
- Serendipia: Veggie food and pizza bar. Wasn’t open while we were in town.
- Etnia Arte y Sabor: A highly rated place on TripAdvisor that many people seemed to really like. They have a very affordable menu of the day which includes a vegetarian option.
- Veggie Salento: Another vegetarian restaurant, however, mixed reviews about the food and wait times.
MAP
Here is our free Google Map with all of our recommendations from above.
