Your Guide: Hiking Valle de Cocóra in Colombia

Your Guide: Hiking Valle de Cocora, Colombia

Clear skies prevail as the valley is doused in soft, golden sunshine. The vivid green meadows contrast with the bright blue sky above, whilst dark green hillsides littered with palm tree’s stand to attention like sentinels on either side. Amidst the unpredictability of Salento’s weather, we’d struck out early in an attempt to catch Valle de Cocora at it’s very finest – and we had.

Prior to arriving on these shores, I’d read how this hike is one of Colombia’s premier attractions. Whilst undeniably beautiful and picturesque, I didn’t entirely fall in love with the area as you can read in this post here. However, the fact remains that it is a stunning landscape and worthy of your attention.

Palm Trees on the hills of Valle de Corcora

Information

Distance – Circa 10km
Time – 5-6 hours (based on personal fitness, length of breaks and taking plenty of photo’s)
Difficulty – Moderate, though climbing through the jungle from the valley was challenging.
Total Cost – 8,000 COP (£1.60/$1.98).

You’ll find varying accounts of which way to complete the hike – either clockwise or counter-clockwise. The latter takes you through the meadow first and climbs up the hillside through the jungle and out onto the crest of the valley from where you can admire the magnificent palms up close.

The ascent is quite steep but is fine for anyone with moderate fitness. Of course, you could complete the hike in reverse, visiting the palm trees first and descending down into the valley after. However, I actually found that the best views were when we were in the valley first thing in the morning as the weather was clear and we could survey the surrounding landscape.

The Hike

In order to reach the beginning of the trail, it’s necessary to take one of the Willy’s jeeps from the centre of Salento. These run quite regularly when full, and cost 8,000 COP per person for a return journey. There were eight of us in total catching the jeep, with six in the main cabin and two standing on the back holding on to the railings. The ride takes approximately twenty minutes to the entrance of the trail.

Upon exiting the jeep, you’ll see that as the road extends uphill there are shops to your right. Just beyond these, on the right-hand side is a blue gate with a sign for Los Nevados Parque Nacional. It’s at this point you can either:

Head right through the blue gates and down this track to begin the counter-clockwise hike which climbs uphill and ends at the palm trees
Continue straight on and up the hill from where you can start from the palm trees and make your way down through the valley before heading back to the jeeps.

Of course, I have only done the first option, so the counter-clockwise option it is!

Follow this trail downhill into the valley, where you’ll find the first checkpoint for entry onto the trail. As of February 2020, the fee was 4,000 COP. My advice would be to have small notes with you for entry; like seemingly everywhere in Colombia, the staff never had change for larger notes! As we were a group of eight, we were able to pay with a 50,000 COP note with everyone reimbursing that individual later on. In order to make life easier for yourself, take smaller notes if you can.

We started our hike at 08:00am and it became immediately apparent that we’d made the right decision. Shafts of light beamed down onto the hillsides allowing for some wonderful photography of the surrounding landscape. This part of the walk has panoramic views which are breathtaking; all around you the hillsides border the valley like a guard of honour.

Initially I thought the hike would take forever as we were constantly stopping to take pictures (I admit, none more guilty than I) but the pace soon quickened. The mud paths lead through rolling meadows with the occasional herd of cows lazily grazing in the early morning sunshine.

The beauty of the hike is, for me, the contrasting landscapes that quickly immerse you. From the wide open space of the lush green meadows, your trail leads you into the thick jungle undergrowth. You’ll reach a sign that says “Fundacion Herencia Vero” which you’ll keep to your left as you follow the trail on the right-hand side.

For me, whilst travelling through the meadow was arguably the most beautiful part of the hike (I’ll explain why the palms wasn’t a little later on), the trek through the jungle was the most entertaining.

The sound of the wildlife in the dense thicket and the rush of water rushing through the heart of the valley bring the environment to life. Not far into the jungle section of the trail, you’ll find a sign leading down to a waterfall. It’s a steep, step-like path that can be quite muddy but the view is well worth it.

A small creek extends out in front of you, fed by a waterfall gushing through a narrow gully in the rockface. It’s a great opportunity to get some contrasting photos of the white-water against the many hues of surrounding green.

Return to the path and continue following the trail over a number of rickety suspension bridges traversing the waters below. As a group of eight, we took the precaution of using each bridge one at a time. While they seem sturdy and safe enough, you still had to pay attention when crossing as they were missing the occasional wooden slat. They do offer some excellent photo opportunities though so if you’re with people, get them to snap you making the crossing.

After completing the series of bridges and making your way deep into the jungle, you’ll arrive at a T-junction for “Acaime La Casa de Los Colibris” which is for a Hummingbird sanctuary. This caused some initial confusion within the group, as we didn’t know whether to go left or right. For clarity:

Turn left if you want to continue the Valle de Cocora hike up to the palm trees
Turn right if you want to visit the Hummingbird sanctuary.

We never visited the sanctuary but I’ve read that the entrance fee is around 6,000 COP.

Anyway, back to the trail and this is where it starts to get steep. We battled our way up the jungle path on our ascent to the crest of the valley and, I won’t lie, I was heavily sweating. Even as someone who exercises regularly and is quite fit, I was grateful for the odd break in the foliage to enjoy the views and take a rest. Maybe it was owing to the fact that the elevation of this area is around 1800m to 2400m but it certainly seemed a little more challenging to catch my breath.

You’ll eventually break out of the trees and into a wide open, albeit still very hilly, green space. Follow the zig-zag path up the hill and you’ll eventually reach Finca La Montaña where you can take a well-earned break. We soaked in the views and consumed plenty of water and snacks at this point.

As Antonia was taking some photos of me, the local farm dog came and stood next to where I was sat. It was almost a “ man and his dog” moment as we sat their appreciating the views together! She also captured a great moment where we both looked at the camera and then each other.

Alex & local farm dog with the jungle mountainsides behind. — My new mate

It was around this point that the weather quickly began to change. Whilst it, thankfully, remained dry, thick grey rainclouds and fog began to roll through the valley obscuring some of the views.

The time was only 11:30am, so I was glad we’d already been on the trail for three and a half hours by that point admiring the landscape under clear conditions. When you’re ready to continue, follow the dirt road downhill from the Finca until you reach the first mirador on your left-hand side. This is what we’d all been waiting for – the hugely impressive wax palm trees.

I’ll be honest, I found this latter stage of the hike disappointing as I found it to simply be a wide, downhill dirt road with the odd mirador located along the way. In my opinion, it wasn’t half as engaging or beautiful as hiking through the valley and jungle earlier that morning. Maybe the weather conditions influenced that though.

It was along this path that we encountered the next fee-paying point; again a similarly-marked tent charging 4,000 COP.

Alex looking out over Valle de Cocora Palms — Enjoying the views

The mirador’s themselves offer some wonderful views across the valley. The beauty of the palm trees and their sheer size is very impressive. I guess the advantages to starting the hike clockwise is that you’d be able to reach these viewpoints early; whilst there were a number of people present upon our arrival, the crowds were hardly excessive. We were able to take some great pictures and enjoy the views with relative peace.

Our logic was that we had wanted the palm trees to be the last part of our journey as a reward for a hard morning of hiking up to the area. It was certainly an ideal spot to find some space, get some rest and break out the sandwiches for a scenic lunch. I wasn’t overly enamoured with what is, for many, the highlight of this walk and you can read why here for more detail.

Once you’ve had your fill of the palm trees, continue on the path downhill where it will loop back to where you started the hike. The Willy’s Jeeps depart for Salento from an area off the road to your right-hand side.

Valle de Cocora Tips

Leave early
I know, it’s probably my most over-used tip and I say it in every article but…..I say it for good reason – set off early! Not only is this hike a popular attraction for backpackers exploring Colombia, but you’re also battling against the weather. It regularly clouded over and poured down with rain every afternoon so hit the trail earlier to increase your chances of staying dry and enjoying better conditions

Take plenty of food.
With it being a 5-6 hour walk, there isn’t anywhere to stop by for a meal or snacks. There is a large supermarket opposite where the Willy’s jeeps leave in Salento town centre, so stop off there for supplies before you depart.

Take plenty of water.
As with any strenuous walking activity, it’s important to stay hydrated at all times. An absolute lifesaver for me throughout my entire six weeks in South America was my LifeStraw. It saved me constantly visiting the supermarkets for bottled water and even enabled me to fill up from the river during the hike, as the in-built filter removes any harmful bacteria.

Dress appropriately
Hiking clothing is a must for this terrain; especially hiking boots and a waterproof coat as the conditions can get very muddy and wet. Also, with how steep the ascent is up the valley to the palm trees, proper footwear that will protect your feet and provide grip.

Other hikers
We never felt unsafe at any time and thoroughly enjoyed the hike from start to finish. Our group of eight people were actually all solo travellers who met at one point or another in our hostel; if you’re travelling solo and would prefer not to do the hike alone, you shouldn’t have any issue finding people from your accommodation to do it with as its a very popular pastime.

Directions
In general, the loop is very easy to follow with the only confusion we experienced coming at the fork heading off either left to the palm trees or right to the Hummingbird sanctuary. For extra reassurance, download an offline map such as maps.me. I used this app throughout my travels in Colombia and it was excellent.

Money
With both checkpoints charging 4,000 COP each, I highly recommend having small notes and coins in order to pay. Neither checkpoint had change for larger notes, so to make life easier, take smaller denominations for easy passage through. Or, if you’re part of a group, have one person pay for everyone with a larger note and reimburse them later on.