Cayambe Coca National Park

Cayambe Coca covers some four thousand square kilometres on the eastern cordillera, dropping from the ice of Cayambe at 5,790 metres through paramo, elfin forest and cloud forest into Amazon foothills at 600, which gives it one of the widest altitudinal ranges of any protected area in the country and a species list to match: spectacled bear, mountain tapir, condor, and several hundred bird species across the gradient. The Papallacta pass road cuts its northern edge and gives the easiest access, with paramo lakes, hot springs at Papallacta and trails from the pass. The park supplies much of Quito's water. Its lower reaches, wet and roadless, are far harder to reach and largely visited from Amazon lodges.

What you actually see

• A gradient from ice to rainforest - five thousand metres of altitude range.
• Paramo lakes on the pass - the high ground along the Papallacta road.
• Spectacled bear and mountain tapir - the flagship mammals of the park.
• Quito's water source - the catchment the city depends on.

When to go

June to September for the highlands; the eastern slope is wet year round. A day from the Papallacta road, several to go deeper. Weather at the pass changes hourly.

Honest expectations

The high sections are cold, wet and often in cloud. Lower reaches are effectively inaccessible without an expedition or a lodge. Trails are unmarked in places. Altitude at the pass is 4,000 metres and affects visitors from Quito.

Nearby

Papallacta hot springs are on the road; Cayambe volcano rises north.