The guide will pick you up from your hotel or apartment to travel 1 hour to the 3 Cruces viewpoint. During the trip the guide will give you relevant information about the area.
Here at the 3 Cruces viewpoint, the guide will explain about the continental watershed and also about the religious importance of this place, especially for travelers. For photography lovers, when the weather permits, you can take excellent photos of the Cajas Park landscape from its different viewpoints.
After visiting 3 Cruces you will travel 10 minutes to reach the middle part of Cajas Park located at 3,960masl., here you will walk around 3 hours in the Toreadora area, depending on the pace of the group. The trek will give you the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery, including the Polylepis Forest, several glacial lakes and the andean paramo also know as moorland, your guide will provide information about the flora and fauna of the area. And if you like natural photography Cajas Park is an amazing place for that. If you have luck there is a chance to see lamas.
LUNCH TIME: Ecuadorian food is very varied and delicious. On this tour you will have the opportunity to try a delicious local soup plus a main course and for our vegetarian clients we have a very good option for them.
After lunch you will travel 20 minutes to have a short complementary visit to the valley of Llaviuco, located in the lower part of the Cajas National Park at approximately 3200 meters above sea level. Here you can enjoy a different landscape with many native trees that are part of the Andean mountain forest, your guide will explain about some medicinal and representative plants of this ecosystem, you can also see the origin of the Tomebamba River, considered the most important river in the city of Cuenca.
After this visit the guide will take you back to the city of Cuenca to drop you off at your hotel, the trip will take around 1 hour.
Our guide, Moses, was excellent. He was friendly and informative and knew many of the plants and wildlife we encountered on our hike. We appreciated his pace with breaks as needed, while still finishing the hike a little early, which left time to visit a museum back in Cuenca. Fantastic experience and an excellent guide!
Tour is a great way to experience Las Cajas and I would highly recommend. Dress in layers! Pedro was an excellent guide. Tour includes a very nice ~2 hour hike, a visit to a lookout (which with the clouds, we couldn't see anything), lunch, and a visit to a valley. It's a very easy, stress-free way to get a feeling for the landscape, which is very beautiful. Our total group was only 3 people, so allows for a more personal tour too.
The guide was very knowledgeable about Cajas, however, I reserved a full day (8 hour) trip and it only lasted 6 hours. That was a bummer. We also only hiked one fairly easy trail, followed by walking up some stairs to a viewpoint with a radio tower. The tour didnt blow me away.
Edison was such a knowledgeable tour guide; we learned a ton about the local plants, geology, and ecosystems. He showed us two of the major areas of Cajas and we felt that we got a good feel for the park and all it has to offer. Edison also brought us to a lovely local restaurant. We had a great day!
Hiking through Cajas National Park was an awesome experience! On the car ride there, Eddy already started to share a bit about the history of the park and the region. He would point things out along the way to give insight into the local culture. We had a perfect day for the hike. It took us 3 hours and it was very rewarding. Eddy explained a lot about the history of the trail, and pointed out special plants as we walked along the trail. I was glad to have a guide for this experience as he was able to show us exactly where to go and what was special about the area.
This was one of the most interesting experiences I’ve had in Ecuador! Our guide Adrian was very knowledgeable about the local fauna and flora. We did 2 hikes, one at lower and one at higher altitude. It was amazing to see the huge difference between these 2 places. Both hikes were incredibly beautiful, but not too demanding for people not used to hiking a lot. We finished with a great lunch at a trout farm. Although you can you to the Cajas national park on your own, I would recommend going there with Polylepsis. It makes it way more interesting, because they know the best spots and have a lot of knowledge about the place.
We all really enjoyed our hike on trail #1 in the Caja's national park. Andres our guide was amazing, knowledgable and funny. He was very gracious and professional with our large group of 8 people of different ages (24-65) and abilities. The hike was 8K, which would normally be no issue, but it was a bit challenging for some due to the altitude. It took us 5 hours due to multiple stops for photos of the gorgeous scenery. We had perfect weather and would highly recommend this hike.
Eddy is a very good guide. He explained so many interesting things about the nature and he cared about his guest. Thanks a lot for this experience.
This tour was awesome! Our guide, Diego, was excellent- very informative and his English was great! He was very prompt in picking us up and a very safe driver. We’re very glad we chose this tour and would highly recommend it if you enjoy hiking!
The views surrounding lake Llaviucu were amazing, our guide Milton, from Polylepis Tours, was an extremely knowledgeable guide with a wealth of historical, ecological, botanical and animal life information in the region. His English was outstanding and he was extremely personable. I highly recommend this tour and this tour guide. Amazing views abound!
Great place to explore nature, unique plants in such a beautiful park! Our guide Addison was very knowledgable and spoke english very well. I would reccomend him to my friends for this and other tours. Thank you for the tour :)
Had a great all day hike in Cajas National Park near Cuenca with Edi. He picked us up from our hotel and took us on two hikes at Cajas with lunch in between. Edi was very knowledgeable about the park and Ecuador in general.
Had an amazing day in this tour. The weather was not very favorable but Flavio re-arranged our visit order which helped us get the best possible weather at both the lake and the higher parts of the park. He is extremely knowledgeable in the different plants and animals available throughout the park down to the scientific name. He is also an avid bird watcher and was able to identify a few during the tour. The driver was also excellent and very professional, helpful offering local tips etc.
With our natural guide, Flavio, we walked in the park starting near the road from Cuenca to Guayaquil. We saw beautiful landscapes, seas and flowers, tiny as well as larger. The tour at 3800 m above sea level was on a good walking path where we could also enjoy the fresh air and silence in the nature under Flavio’s very good guidance.
Cajas National Park is a must see! It was so beautiful!!! Our guide Wilsonn was very accommodating, friendly, informative and spoke English very well. We visited 3 areas of the park at different elevations and hiked through forests and around many beautiful lakes with absolutely breathtaking views. We had a delicious lunch of locro de papas soup, trout and horchata. Polyepis Tours was great to book with and was very responsive to my questions and requests via email. Great experience!!!
The visit was with a cold and rainy day, Diego allowed us to walk for at least an hour and know its ecosystem and beauty.
Wonderful walk through the boxes with guides Edison and Flavio. They were good guides, attentive, dedicated, friendly and accommodating.
Beautiful experience. The very professional guide, knowledgeable of the area, gentle and concerned to provide a good day. Beautiful landscapes. Excellent Agency Service. Highly recommended
An excellent excursion. Edison is very competent, he explains a lot, really interesting. I think it is the best guide for this park. Cajas Park is splendid but requires a guide because you get lost in it and you would like to know the different plants you have never seen. On the other hand you have to think about booking the tour in advance to be sure to have it.
I made the excursion to beautiful and magical Cajas National Park with Polylepis Tours in December, and it was a magnificent experience (for the second time, since I had made the same excursion with them in 2017). The park is sensational, but the addition that Edison, the guide, knows a lot about the geology of the place, the flora and fauna, and the history of the area, give it a very good added value. Also, this time I was the only passenger, so, as we had done the traditional hike three years ago, we took a different turn, which allowed me to see another side of the park (crossing the polylepis forest was amazing!). For those who want an experience in real contact with the environment, with nature, with a good walk, not difficult, at a pace commensurate with the passengers, and also learn about the place they will visit, I recommend taking the excursion with Polylepis Tours.
El Cajas National Park is unique in the world for its natural environment, hiking and encounter with the mother mountain, you can observe birds and llamas in the natural state, its lagoons are so beautiful that invite you to admire them for a long time, its forests of quinoa and flowers are so beautiful that it seems to be in a place to discover, ideal to visit with the family.
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
Reach us by phone
Reach us by email