If you are a hiking lover, like adventure and/or explore nature this guide is for you!
 
What you will find in the guide:
- Why go hiking to the Colombian coffee region or Eje Cafetero
- Hiking options in the area depending on your level 
- Tips for hiking in the region and three agencies' recommendations

To do any of these hikes you can arrive by plane or bus to the city where it starts.

Eje Cafetero, Colombia

Valle del Cocora, Salento, Quindío, Colombia

Colombia

Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados, Tolima, Colombia

Colombian Coffee Region for Hiking Lovers Guide

Main reasons to go hiking in the Eje Cafetero:

- The park and its entrances are located close to Salento and Valle del Cocora, which will allow you to enjoy the cultural part of the region

- If you're an advanced hiker there are also challenging options for you

Most of the hiking routes start in Pereira and Manizales. There are some that also start in Salento. 

You can arrive by flight, bus, or car to Manizales or Pereira. If the hike starts in Salento it's better to arrive in Pereira because is closer. 

📍 Parque Nacional de los Nevados Overview

Additional relevant information for hiking in the area

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- In that region, you will find the "Parque Nacional de los Nevados" which is a Natural National Park where you can find three of the permanent snow-capped Mountain that exist in Colombia

- Remember that Colombia is located close to the Equator, which means that all the Snow-capped mountains in the country have an altitude of more than 4.900 meters above the sea level

If you go by bus to Salento, just go to the bus terminal in Pereira. There, ask for Alcalá company. The ticket will cost around $10.000 COP which is 2.5 USD approximately. There are buses every hour. 

You need to book a tour to do any of the hiking routes in the National Park I'm mentioning in this guide. Here are the main reasons:

- Security reasons. Usually, the paths aren't clearly marked so you can easily get lost 

- The National Park is very big and it has several entrances in rural areas of municipalities that are far from the main cities. Thus, the roads to arrive at those municipalities or to the trek starting points aren't in good condition to go by your own

- There aren't hotels around, usually, the tour agencies arrange places to stay with local farmers

- As it is rural and far from the cities, sometimes you also loose phone signal there (it usually varies with mobile companies)

Therefore, my main tip is to go on a tour. In general, the tours include transportation from Pereira, Manizales, or Salento (depending on the tour), lodging with local communities, food, and insurance. 

- As the routes are at a very high altitude it's important to be supervised by a local guide in case you present altitude sickness 

If you're going to the top of a snow-crapped mountain main of the tours also includes equipment. 

 "Parque Nacional de los Nevados" (Snow-capped Mountain Natural National Park) is one of the most important national parks in Colombia.

To arrive at Valle del Cócora, you need to arrive first to Salento which is a small colonial town in the Eje Cafetero. The town is full of colorful houses and is surrounded by mountains around. 

It is located in the Andean Region of the country meaning that its mountains are part of the Andes mountains, and it has 583 km2 of extension. 

In the park, you will find three of the permanent snow-capped mountains that exist in Colombia: Nevado de Santa Isabel, Nevado del Ruiz, and Nevado del Tolima.

You can book a one-day tour that will pick you up very early in the morning in Pereira or Manizales, drive you to the start of the trek and then return you to the city. 

As mentioned in the itinerary visit Eje Cafetero ⬇️ ,

In addition to the snow-capped mountains, you can find a lot of "Páramos" which are an ecosystem that just can be found in altitudes between 2.900 and 5.000 meters above sea level in places close to the Equator. 

- There are also some volcanos in the zone and sometimes when the volcanos are highly active, there are zones that are closed. Then, check with the agency about the availability before traveling

Nevado Santa Isabel is one of the three snow-crapped mountains in the park. 

There are three options to visit it. The one you choose depends on your preferences and the difficulty you want in this experience.

This one-day experience will allow you to walk up the mountain until where the snow starts which is around 4.900 meters above sea level. 

🐾Option 2: Two-day tour to the Nevado + hiking in Páramo 

You can book a two-day tour that will pick you up early in the morning in Pereira or Manizales and drive you to the entrance of the park that is closer to the Nevado de Santa Isabel.

On the first day, you will be able to do a 4 hours walk in the Páramo de Otún to visit the Otún Lagoon. I think that hike is very nice since will allow you to visit the Páramo, see "frailejones" (an endemic plant that grows in Páramos), and see the view of the Lake. 

You will stay there in simple accommodation at the entrance of the park, and the next day you will visit Nevado de Santa Isabel in the same way that was mentioned in option 1. 

🐾Option 3: Hike to the top of Nevado de Santa Isabel

This third option requires being in a better physical shape as you will climb to the top of Nevado de Santa Isabel. 

The tour is similar to the one in option 2. You need to spend the day before in Paramo so your body gets used to the altitude. During the second day, you will wake up around 2-3 am in the morning to start the hike and then climb to the top of the mountain. 

Valle del Cócora is very famous because you can find there the valley of wax palm original from the region. The views are amazing and there are hiking routes for nature and adventure lovers.

It is better to arrive early so you can enjoy the entire day. 

Once in Salento, you can go to the central park and that a Jeep to go to Valle del Cócora main entrance. The transportation will cost around 1 USD.

In the park, you can enjoy a circular route. The path is well notated, so you wouldn't need any your or guides to do this route. 

To the main circular route, you can add an additional 1.5 hours and visit the Acaima Reserve which has a farm called "Casa de los colibries" or the hummingbirds house where you will find a lot of hummingbirds! There are different colors and species.  

You will spend around 6 hours doing the long hike, including the hummingbirds' house. 

If you want to increase the difficulty, you can get a 4-5 day tour to walk from Salento and Valle del Cócora to the other side of the Parque Nacional de los Nevados. There are different options, you can check the one that you like most with the agencies. 

Nevado del Tolima is one of the three snow-capped mountains in the park. As it is the biggest, it has different picks and sides that you can visit and more than one entrance to those places. 

All the tours that go to Nevado del Tolima are designed to go to the top of the side that you select for your trip. Therefore, all require a very good physical condition. 

One of the options is to walk from Salento to the Nevado del Tolima wich requires 4 days. 

These are the more famous and trusted tour agencies to do the trips mentioned above: 

Colombian Summit | Agencia de Turismo

Ecoturismo en Colombia, Caminatas Ecológicas, Turismo Ecológico, Excursiones

https://ecosistemastravel.co/#

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Explore the coffee region or "eje cafetero" in Spanish on a 3-4 day trip.
 
What you will find:
- Why visit the Coffee Region in Colombia 
- Places to visit
- How much time spend in each place

You can do this itinerary either by car or by bus arriving at any of the main airports in the region! 

The itinerary is very flexible, it's designed for you to pick the activities depending on your preferences.  

Colombian Coffee Region for Hiking Lovers Guide

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