Cerro Catederal, 514m — UN Country High Point — Uruaguay

Loop trail from Puntas de José Ignacio passing through:
- Cerro Catedral (0.5 km)

Cerro Catederal, 514m, UN Country High Point, Uruguay
At 514 metres, Cerro Catedral is not the highest of the high points in the world, but they all count. It is located within the Maldonado Department, near Aigua, in the Sierra Carape hill range in eastern Uruguay.

While on a three-month stay in Buenos Aires, I decided to take in the high points of Paraguay and Uruguay, both being cheap and cheerful high points to do. Cerro Catedral was done on a nice weekend sojourn with a friend from Buenos Aires. It was a simple cross-border jaunt by ferry from Buenos Aires to Montivideo, where we stayed in a nice Airbnb in Pocitos. Arriving late at night, about mid-night, we picked up our rented Eurocar ($80) at 9 a.m. in the morning and set off down the coast road towards Punta del Este before turning left (north) on the outskirts of San Carlos. The road so far had been a pleasant and not-too-busy main coastal road. There was nothing untoward, and it was all easy driving. The road from San Carlos, route 39, was now gloriously quiet, with gorgeous, rolling, green scenery. After 40 kilometres, and about 12 kilometres from Cerro Catedral, we then turned right (east) on a dirt road for the last bit of the approach. This is a good dirt road, not lumpy in anyway, and it was easy to do in the rental car, very different from my ride in Paraguay. The road had nice scenery, and after about 11–12 kilometres, you get to a hillier section than normal with some wind turbines on nearby hills. The area is very scenic, and it’s not long before you see the blue Cerro Catedral sign on the right side of the road, and opposite is a wide, dirt-surfaced pull-in. Here, there is more than ample parking and some excellent views of the nearby hills and turbines. It had taken us four hours of easy driving, with a stop, to get to this point, all using Google Maps.

The walk. It is very simple, you go underneath the Cerro Catedral sign and go through the rickety wire fence. Then there is a distinct outline of a footpath going off left, heading for some large, obvious rocks on the hill in front of you. The path takes you up and around these rocks, and then a few minutes later, you see the triangular summit in front of you. It is a ten-minute walk at most, and you will be rewarded with a nice panoramic 360º view. It was nice to see a rather large Argentine Black and White Tegu (layman terms: a big lizard!) on the way up. Thus, Cerro Catedral became my 30th high point. I do count England, Wales, and Northern Ireland within my total tally.
On the way back, we detoured slightly to visit the visually non-inspiring Iglesia de Cristo Obrero y Nuestra Señora, a Roman Catholic church in the city of Atlántida, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Then, to finish off the weekend, we had a 15-kilometre amble around Montivideo to visit the best sights of the town on its 300th anniversary. All the nice stuff is done in a charming little country.

Parking: Ample roadside parking at the start point.
Route: Simple, distinct path from the road side heading for some large rocks and a summit trig point with good views.
Statistics: A whopping .6 of a km with 32 metres of height gain done in an all in time of twenty minutes.