6-Day Cotopaxi Volcano Trek

A private transportation and bilingual guide will pick you up early in the morning from your Hotel in Quito, and will make a quick stop at El Porvenir for a hot canelazo. Then we will drive you from El Porvenir to Pasochoa Reserve, crossing the paramo plains. Our hike will begin in Hacienda Santa Rita Private Reserve, at an altitude of 3,300 meters, (10826 ft), from which we will begin climbing Pasochoa Volcano. The route crosses patches of native Andean forest and open "páramos" , a type of moorland. We will trek through fields covered with high straw and will enjoy the magnificent view of the neighboring mountains covered with snow such as Antisana, Cayambe, Cotopaxi and Sincholagua watch over us during this climb. We will have a box lunch in the middle of the day. Dinner and overnight stay at Hacienda El Porvenir. Hiking time is about 7 hours total round trip. Hiking difficulty is low.

Meals included: Lunch, Dinner
Mid-Range Accommodations: Hacienda El Porvenir

After a delicious breakfast, we start out on our walk towards Cotopaxi National Park, the entrance of which is just 4 kilometers from the farm house. Today's walk is quite flat, which helps with our acclimatization process. We visit the Pucará del Salitre, an old Inca fortress. Following the Incañán (Inca path) eastwards, we reach our camp, where we get a fabulous view of Cotopaxi Volcano. The walk takes about 6 hours on flat terrain and has an average altitude of 3,700m. We will have covered 19.2 km. (12 miles) by the end of the day

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Budget Accommodations: Tented Camping

Today's walk takes us to Hacienda El Tambo, on the eastern flanks of the Andes. We cross hills and valleys, guarded over by Quilindaña, a peak hard to see from the Central Andean Valley and which looks very much like the Matterhorn seen from the Italian side. The average altitude that we walk at today is 3,800m. Although we get as high as 4,200m. on one mountain pass. We reach the farmhouse, an old mountain refuge, built on Inca stones. Today our walk lasts approximately 7 hours. The terrain is mainly flat but there are a few steep hills. By the end of this day, we will have covered 32km. (20 miles)

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Mid-Range Accommodations: Hacienda El Tambo

Today our walk will take us on a circuit around Hacienda El Tambo, crossing the Chirimachai Canyon to reach the camp. At Chirimachai the climate from the eastern jungle rises to meet that of the Central Andean Valley. There is a great supply of natural water, straight from the glaciers of Cotopaxi. The scenery is truly unbeatable. On the walk, we will be accompanied by local chagras on their horses since we pass land where there are fighting bulls. This stretch takes about 6 or 7 hours, and is at an average altitude of 3,850m. The camp is located at 4,000m. In the course of the day, we walk a total of 22.4km. (14 miles).

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Budget Accommodations: Tented Camping

We start out early in the morning, heading westward. We reach a very accessible, flat path, from where we look over glacial valleys and get some wonderful panoramic views. After a 7-hour walk, we reached our camp at 3,800m. The average altitude of the walk is 3,850m. assuring us that we are now acclimatized for our final challenge, getting up to Cotopaxi Refuge at 4,800m (15,744 ft). This day we will have walked 26.4 km (16.5 miles).

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Mid-Range Accommodations: Tambopaxi Lodge

We get ready early in the morning for the final assault: reaching 4,800m. after 5 days of physical preparation. The walk takes us 5 or 6 hours today, culminating at the climbing hut (Refugio José Ribas), where we can feel the sheer power of the immense volcano at close quarters. A vehicle will be waiting to take us back to Hacienda El Porvenir, where we will be served a well-earned tasty lunch to round off this great trek before setting off back to Quito. Today's walk is basically a long steep climb. The average altitude is 4,200m, with an ascent of 1,067m. from the camp to the refuge. The walk covers 8.48 km (5.3 miles).

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch