Laguna Iguaque
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 10.15 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3,570 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Difficult
- Elevation loss
- 3,570 ft
- Max elevation
- 11,719 ft
- TrailRank
- 38
- Min elevation
- 8,548 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Time
- 7 hours 5 minutes
- Coordinates
- 5077
- Uploaded
- May 28, 2018
- Recorded
- May 2018
near Curí Playa, Boyacá (Republic of Colombia)
Viewed 1782 times, downloaded 37 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
A trail to Laguna Iguaque in the Santuario de Flora y Fauna Iguaque, Colombia. According to the Muisca mythology, humanity emerged from that laguna.
The trail starts at the Casa Piedra on the road from Villa de Leyva to Arcabuco. To get there, take a bus at 6am or 7am from Leyva (4k pesos in 2018). There is a bus at 8am too, but it may be too late to return for the only afternoon bus to Leyva which is around 4pm. If you have a car, you can go the park entrance and the hike would be by 5.4km shorter.
The first 2.7km are easy as you walk a gravel road to the park entry. There you need to register and pay a steep fee (for foreigners it was 48k pesos in 2018). A kilometer further is a refugio and a restaurant where you can buy drinks and snacks (not sure about the proper food if you're not staying there). Once you pass the refugio things get more challenging. The next 2.5km go through Andean forest (bosque andino). I was there in a wet season and the trail was tough - a lot of mud, water, slippery clay, stones and wet roots. It really requires attention and I recommend bringing trekking poles to navigate it. At the altitude of 3300m the trail leaves the forest and enters paramo, an alpine tundra ecosystem. The next 200m elevation gain requires some scrambling (40% slope) and could be dangerous if it's wet. The final 1.5km is easy as you basically traverse the mountain to get to the laguna. The return follows the same path. It's impossible to get lost as this is the only trail in this nature sanctuary. However, keep eye on time, especially if you come and return by bus.
The trail starts at the Casa Piedra on the road from Villa de Leyva to Arcabuco. To get there, take a bus at 6am or 7am from Leyva (4k pesos in 2018). There is a bus at 8am too, but it may be too late to return for the only afternoon bus to Leyva which is around 4pm. If you have a car, you can go the park entrance and the hike would be by 5.4km shorter.
The first 2.7km are easy as you walk a gravel road to the park entry. There you need to register and pay a steep fee (for foreigners it was 48k pesos in 2018). A kilometer further is a refugio and a restaurant where you can buy drinks and snacks (not sure about the proper food if you're not staying there). Once you pass the refugio things get more challenging. The next 2.5km go through Andean forest (bosque andino). I was there in a wet season and the trail was tough - a lot of mud, water, slippery clay, stones and wet roots. It really requires attention and I recommend bringing trekking poles to navigate it. At the altitude of 3300m the trail leaves the forest and enters paramo, an alpine tundra ecosystem. The next 200m elevation gain requires some scrambling (40% slope) and could be dangerous if it's wet. The final 1.5km is easy as you basically traverse the mountain to get to the laguna. The return follows the same path. It's impossible to get lost as this is the only trail in this nature sanctuary. However, keep eye on time, especially if you come and return by bus.
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