Parque Nacional Cajas — Attraction in San Joaquín

This is my favorite place in Ecuador so far. it's easy to access without a car. The hourly local bus between cuenca and Guayaquil will pass the entrances. There is no entrance fee but you need to check in at the park information center so that they can make sure the total number of visitors doesn't exceed the upper limit (lower than 100).

Once get inside, there's multiple routes to choose depending on the weather, physical condition and your goal. you can hike up to some 4000meter point to have a great view of whole paramo (moorland), or stay at lower altitude and get real close to the lakes. the highland terrain actually diversifies so much that it never gets old.

Except for the usual hiking gears, download the map from park website and prepare sufficient water and food, there are several main things to plan for. the Cuenca-Guayaquil bus might stop operating due to weather or mudslide or regular maintenance. As I am writing now, the bus would take a 4 day break for road maintenance. There are several trailheads along the highway. Normally you would want to drop at Refugio / Laguna Toreadora / Park office. Yet, the highest trailhead is Tres Cruces, and there is a very tiny trail connecting back to the main trail system but it'll be a long hike. The weather in the park changes every minute. I personally consider thunderstorms to be the most dangerous one. if you are not comfortable with it, do plan to hike in good weather only (the twice i visited both had loud thunder fortunately it stopped) There are also occasional snatches on the Guaya to Cuenca bus. friends suggested not to travel in too early or too late hours. The day time bus I took all felt...

Such a beautiful place to visit. Amazing vegetation around 4000m. Buses are leaving from Cuenca terminal regurarly that stops in Cajas and costs around 2,50$ one way. You register before you enter the park in the office entrance, they will tell you which routes that they recommend based on the weather and your preferences. There is also a restaurant beside the office, it's probably a good idea to eat something before you enter the park, but take enough water and snacks with you during the hike. Take notice that hiking in high altitude can cause altitude sickness or be very demanding, if this is your first time hiking in this altitude, make sure you take a short route and listen carefully to your body, alternatively take some pills for the altitude.

Good tips: MapsMe have a lot of the routes in the national park, so you might want to use it to be on the sure side or to just navigate if you get lost. Otherwise the paths are well marked, there a although some paths that are not in MapsMe or on the map that is provided by the national park. So if you don't have MapsMe make sure you follow the official route that have poles marked...

What's not to like about a cold climate, equitorial alpine park. Where you struggle to get enough oxygen by breathing at 4,000 meters and your used to 200 meters elevation. But who cares if you can't breathe when there's hundreds of pictures to take of unique plants and landscapes and waterfalls. With many miles to hike and ooooh and aaaah through the various ecological zones and flora.

And. Where else, do you find a large rich, with a meteorite impact fracture crater. How cool, and unique is that.

We toured the high part of the park, and the much lower in elevation, portion of the park, hiking around a lake, where the old beer brewery is found.

I'll have to edit this post. After I remember the name of our guide and the company he works for. Very knowledgeable and full of stories and explanations and verbal tidbits of the flora and fauna and a lot of other stuff. I love nature and natural science stuff. I couldn't speak better, about the experience, and head crammed full of info. After this trip too. Same company, different guide took my friend and I to Ingapirca the...