Top Cuenca Outdoor Activities

Explore one of the most spectacular parks in Ecuador on a full-day tour from Cuenca. Hike through the park's unique high altitude landscape which includes lakes, paramo vegetation, llamas, ancient Polylepis trees, and more to delight nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts who want an easy escape from the nearby city.

Cajas National Park, with its 200 glacial lakes and numerous hiking trails, is easily one of the most beautiful places in Ecuador. With this tour, travelers with limited time in Cuenca can still spend a few hours exploring the Andean highlands with two guided hikes through two different forest ecosystems.

Spend a full-day at the UNESCO listed Cajas National Park on a private day tour. Skip the confusion and irregular schedules of public transit with private hotel pickup and drop-off.  With a private guide by your side, all you have to do is enjoy the adventure. Your two hikes at different altitude levels offer spectacular views. Along the way, stop for lunch at a local restaurant.

The Cajas National Park, has a lake system of more than 160 lagoons, with a unique landscape. In our visit we characterize the high Andean forest where we have a large number of birds and a unique flora; We also characterize the moorland ecosystem where we will visit the polylepis forest and perform an environmental interpretation of these sites while our tourists enjoy the landscapes offered by the national park

Spend the day on a guided tour from Cuenca to Cajas National Park. Enjoy an exhilarating hike through this destination that’s home to more than 250 lakes and plenty of indigenous plants and animals. Perfect for all hiking levels, this one-of-a-kind outdoor adventure is s truly memorable experience!

This private full-day tour from Cuenca, Ecuador was designed with hikers in mind. Explore trails through primary cloud forest, then continue to Cajas National Park to explore the high altitude paramo landscape and watershed within this UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. A well-earned lunch of trout from local fish farms is included.

Connecting the Andes Mountains to the coast, the Devil’s Nose Train was considered one of the world’s greatest feats of engineering when it was built in 1899. On this private tour, enjoy the convenience of private transportation to Alausi, the starting point for the train. Take in the scenic Andean landscape en route to the coast, then continue along the Pan-American Highway to Ingapirca, Ecuador’s largest pre-Columbian archaeological site.

After pickup from your Cuenca hotel, you’ll set off on an 8-hour avian adventure at El Cajas National Park.  From an elevation of 3,800 meters (12,800 ft), you’ll see a long list of endemic birds, including the Tufted Tit Tyrant and Variable Hawk.  Go at a leisurely pace with your private guide to maximize your sightings and enjoy the scenery. Unwind as private transport takes you back to your hotel.

Cajas National Park protects a huge swath of lake-dotted Andean grasslands—one of the most biologically diverse in the Andes range—just west of Cuenca. During this full-day tour, save time waiting in line at the national park visitors center, and go on a hike through highlands, wetlands, and a Polylepis forest, home to the highest altitude trees in the world. This leaves time for lunch at a local restaurant specializing in fresh trout.

This tour allows us to know in a synthesized way the most important places of the archaeological and cultural offer of the provinces of Azuay and Cañar; our first stop is in the archaeological complex of Ingapirca, where our guides travel through the history of local aboriginal cultures and the expansion of the Incas in the territory corresponding to Ecuador. On this journey you can taste the typical gastronomic offer of the region (Biblián). We continue our tour to Gualaceo and Chordeleg. Places where the craft activity stands out. In Chordeleg we will visit the jewelry made in gold and silver with the technique of filigree, here our visitors will have the opportunity to have free time to know the town and visit the jewelers and craft shops in the area; To finish our tour we visit the House of Makanas.

Turn your transfer from Cuenca to Guayaquil into an adventure on a 6- to 8-hour tour. The journey conveniently begins and ends at your accommodation, so there’s no need to haul your suitcases across either city. On your way to the coast, stop at the UNESCO listed Cajas National Park where you can enjoy an optional hike through the Polylepis Forest. Lunch is offered, followed by a visit to a family owned cocoa plantation.

On this tour you can enjoy the beautiful landscape of the Cajas N.P. in a walk of 3 hours more or less, after which we relax in the thermal baths of the Baños parish. An experience that you will love.

The park is located only 45 minutes from Cuenca. This lagoon system, with over 230 lakes, invites you to enjoy one of the nicest landscapes in South America. There are different ecosystems such as: Andean Mountain forest, Polylepis forest, paramo or grassland. You will have the chance to spot many interesting birds, even the endemic hummingbird of Cajas - the “Violet Throated Metaltail”- one of the most important birds in Ecuador. Also, on this tour you will see the beautiful Tit Like Dacnis, Blue Mantled Thornbill, Stout Billed Cinclodes, Tawny Antpitta, Spectacled Whitestar, Tyrian Metaltail, Gray Breasted Mountain Toucan, Andean Guan, and so much more.

Experience the best of Ecuadorian nature on an eight-hour trip to Cajas National Park.  Avoid the stress and confusion of public buses with pickup and drop-off from your Cuenca hotel. Spend three hours exploring the Toreadora area of the park at a leisurely pace with your guide.  Break for an lunch at a local restaurant, then visit a different ecosystem during a walk around the lake.

The Nariz del Diablo (Devil’s Nose) Train ranks as one of Ecuador’s most scenic and historically significant excursions. During this tour, enjoy the convenience of a private guide and driver as you make your way from Cuenca to the train station in Alausi for the round-trip journey. You’ll have plenty of time for a walking tour of Alausi and an Ecuadorian lunch at your own expense.