Walking the Abandoned Railway of Colombia. Villeta - Alban
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 36.56 mi
- Elevation gain
- 8,278 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Difficult
- Elevation loss
- 3,566 ft
- Max elevation
- 7,287 ft
- TrailRank
-
73
5
- Min elevation
- 2,592 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Coordinates
- 2219
- Uploaded
- July 8, 2017
- Recorded
- July 2017
near Villeta, Departamento de Cundinamarca (Republic of Colombia)
Viewed 11665 times, downloaded 30 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
An amazing trail along this historic and once very important railway route that is over 100 years old. Not always possible to stay on or near the railway route but for 90% of the route, this is possible. The only major risk to this trail is the unrestrained guard dogs of the properties either side of the track. Had three nerve-racking encounters with vicious dogs. Keep a hard stick with you and few stones just in case. Be confident and walk with intention. Another tip might be to start this trick from Alban towards alright I would say it is more rewarding and spectacular to start in Villeta and progress up to Alban.
Comments (11)
You can add a comment or review this trail
What a good journey, Congratulations,
Welcome to Colombia.
Did you complete it on just one day?
Yes, arenasjj. It took me about 11hrs.
Your entry says it was 58 k, but looking in google maps, it says 28k. What's the right number?
Sorry for my late reply arenasjj. Google maps correctly states it as that. But I did not walk the google maps route. I followed the old railway from Villeta to Alban which is different. Thanks for your question. Do you want to walk this route?
BTW Oscar Upegui, thanks so much for the awesome review. I am glad that you liked it.
Hey man, you see any dog restrictions?
No Marlonny, no restrictions at all.
I want to complete this route, but I'd like to be sure how long it is. 58k is very long for just one day, specially if it's going up.
Yes, I am sorry. The same trail is 58.84km. This is the nearest route that google shows https://goo.gl/maps/d98An3nvZeM2 (it shows the nearest road but not the rail tracks that I walked). However, I walked half the way from Sasaima to Alban on the highway that I not very nice. I recommend that you do not walk along the highway but aim for Chime and La Frontera (https://goo.gl/maps/G4L6SfPxsnD2). I also recommend that you walk downhill from Alban to Villeta. Estacion Namay to Villeta is easy, just follow the train tracks and it is really spectacular. Tell me when you would like to walk this route, maybe I can walk with you.
Really awesome, Stuart. In january 2020 I made a bike tour with my foldable GW bike from Bogotá to Tobia, passing Facatavivá and Villeta, together with Alejita from Tolima. We passed much of the scenery in your video. And the small treneta is still parked at the train station of Villeta.