Iliniza Norte to Cunuyacu Hot Springs

Another super accessible hike to do from Iliniza Mountain Lodge is the Iliniza Norte to Cunuyacu Hot Spring circuit. This is not an official trail, so it involves a bit of risk taking, but it is definitely worth it. This route also has many options: it can be done with or without the Iliniza Norte summit, and as an overnight hike, or a long day hike. Either way, make sure to leave fairly early from the lodge the day you plan to go. You can arrange transport with Iliniza Mountain Lodge to bring you to the trailhead of the Ilinizas, or, you can walk and try your luck with hitchhiking. The most important part of this hike is what you need to tell the park rangers at the registration office. DO NOT tell them you are planning on walking down to the hot springs. Technically, there is no official route and the park rangers deem it to be too dangerous (even though there is a route on maps.me and the path is not technical and relatively easy to follow.) If you plan on doing a day trip, tell them you are hiking Iliiza Norte, and if you plan on camping, tell them you are camping at the bottom of the Ilinizas. Either way, if you want to hike to the Iliniza Norte peak, you will need a helmet, and to fill out a safety form. From the trailhead, the path to the Refugio is easy to follow, and not too strenuous until the last 1.5km, where it gets a bit steep and scrambly. You can leave your big bags in the Refugio, and head straight for the summit of Iliniza Norte. The summit takes around 2 hours to complete, and involves some rock climbing and exposed areas. It was cloudy when we arrived at the top, but we waited long enough to get about 20 seconds of cloud clearing to see the view. You can have a quick lunch in the Refugio before discreetly starting your hike down to the hot springs. The path is in the direction of the registration office, however you take the trail up to the right instead of down to the left. It was quite a foggy day when we did it, and there isn’t a clear trail, however you will see karen’s built on top of rocks to let you know you are heading in the right direction. You will pass by a small laguna, and eventually reach what looks like a sand dune, that you head directly down. 2 things to be aware of are: the wild bulls that can supposedly be aggressive, so try your best to avoid them, and, the path that eventually leads to a canyon, so stay high in the vegetation rather than following the sandy path down. At one point, you will need to cross the canyon where you can clearly see the path on the other side. This clear path takes you directly to Cunuyacu Hot Springs. It is best to go on a sunny day as they are not the warmest, but regardless of the weather they are beautiful. A couple hundred meters down the path, you will find another path leading to the Cunuyacu Waterfall. There is no official campground, but you can really set your tent up anywhere along the hot springs. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy for us, so we decided to hike down. The parking lot entrance is a short walk from the hot springs, so if you’re lucky you can maybe catch a ride with someone, or organize transportation in advance to pick you up. If not, it’s about a 10km walk to the closest town where you can catch a bus back to the El Chaupi bus stop, followed by another bus to bring you into the town of Chaupi.