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The magical Cocora Valley is the home of Colombia’s national tree and symbol, the wax palm. This tall endangered palm dots the landscape of this extension to Los Nevados National Park, which is a popular day trip from nearby Salento.
When to Visit Cocora Valley
The best time to visit the Cocora Valley is during the week. Weekends, especially three-day holiday weekends, attract huge numbers of domestic tourists. The crowds can be unbearable and can really ruin from the otherwise peaceful atmosphere.
Also, the road to the valley is very narrow, and when Colombian tourists flock to the area, some drivers (not to point fingers but especially those from Bogotá) can be rude and aggressive, making it a dangerous trip.
Getting to Cocora Valley
It’s possible to get to Cocora Valley by jeep or taxi from the main plaza in Salento. Jeeps leave from the plaza and the ride takes about a half hour. Jeeps will come back to Salento when they fill up with at least eight people. Rides cost COP$9,000 per person (as of June 2023). You can also hike or get there on horseback if you choose, but I wouldn’t recommend it with all the traffic.
What to Do at Cocora Valley
You can spend a couple hours to a full day at Cocora Valley and there’s plenty to do for all interests and ability levels. Other than the loop hike I’ve written about below, here are a couple things you can do:
Wax Palms
From the entrance to the valley, you’re able to admire the landscape filled with towering wax palms. The tallest species of palms in the world, they grow an average of 50 meters tall but unfortunately are endangered because of cattle eating their seedlings. The palms are protected by the Colombian government. It’s illegal to cut them down or harm them in any way.
Along the main road through the valley, there are a couple thematic parks exploiting the natural scenery. The most famous is the Palm Forest (Bosque de Palmas), which is a small part of the loop trail. Of course, you have to pay to enter these parks.
Horseback Riding at Cocora Valley
If you don’t feel like hiking at Cocora Valley, horses are available for hire at the entrance and start around COP$40,000 (as of June 2023). Boots are available for rent for a small fee, and I recommend them especially when it’s muddy or rainy. There are various excursions available ranging from a few minutes to a few hours. You have to pay for both your horse and the guide, and can split the guide fee among your group.
Where to Eat at Cocora Valley
There are several restaurants to choose from at the Cocora Valley. Most specialize in trout. I always end up visiting my favorite restaurant, Bosques de Cocora.
Bosques de Cocora – Donde Juan B
One of the more popular restaurants in the valley is Bosques de Cocora – Donde Juan B. It’s situated near the trails that head into the park. The restaurant can be jam-packed on weekends and holidays, but it’s for good reason – the food is great! Both the trout and meat dishes are very good but be warned – the portions are huge
Valle Hebrón
Marisol and I also ate at Valle Hebrón. Marisol had a simple grilled trout and I had a delicious special baked trout with mushrooms and melted cheese (trucha con champiñones y queso fundido). It wasn’t as good as Bosques de Cocora.
Hiking at Cocora Valley
The Cocora Valley is one of the most spectacular natural areas in all of Colombia. If you want to enjoy it at its fullest, the best way to do that is to hike the loop trail.
There are two options if you choose to do the entire loop. You can either go clockwise or counterclockwise. I’ve done the hike both ways several times. Either way, it takes an average of about five hours to do the entire loop, but give yourself six for rest and photo stops.
Which way should you hike? If you go clockwise, you’ll avoid a steep uphill climb from the Acaime extension to Finca La Montaña. If you go counterclockwise, you have to deal with a steep uphill climb in the middle of the hike, but you’ll also save the most dramatic scenery – the wax palms – for the end of the trail. It’s also better on your knees. Personally, I prefer to go counterclockwise.
The trail is fairly easy to follow. There are two spots on the Acaime extension that have thrown us off but we only lost a minute or two. It’s also very clean and we only found a few small items of garbage along the way that we picked up and took with us.
For the more adventurous, you can even hike all the way up into the mountains and Los Nevados National Park. That’s something I’m saving for another time.
Entrance Fees for the Loop Trail
The hike is not free. There are three places where you’ll need cash to pass through private property. COP$6,000 is needed at Finca El Portón, COP$20,000 at Acaime (a hummingbird sanctuary), and COP$20,000 at Finca La Esperanza for the Palm Forest (Bosque de Palmas) (all prices as of January 2024). At Acaime they give you a hot drink of your choice (hot chocolate, aguapanela, or coffee). Make sure you bring enough cash because nobody will make exceptions to let you pass.
Preparing for the Cocora Valley Hike
The trail condition varies by section. You definitely need hiking boots or trail shoes with good traction. There were a few hikers in regular shoes who were struggling. I’ve even seen people trying to hike in flip flops.
As far as clothing, pay attention to the weather and play it by ear. I always hike at Cocora Valley with long pants (sometimes waterproof), wear a hat, and carry a light rain jacket. You don’t have to worry about mosquitoes but I’ve seen people get pretty scratched up by the plants in the forest or from falling on rocks.
If it has been raining and you aren’t hiking the whole trail, I highly recommend mud boots. You can rent them near the start of the trail for a small fee. You won’t want them for the whole hike because you’ll feel every stone along the way. One of the horse guides can tell you if the trail is dry or swampy before you decide to rent them or not.
Bring plenty of water and wear sunscreen. Although much of the hike is in the shade, the first and last sections leave you exposed no matter what direction you’re walking. I also recommend loading up on snacks ahead of time but there are a few places to buy snacks and drinks along the way. Better yet, order a pack lunch from Brunch de Salento, pick it up in the morning before heading to the valley, and you’ll be all set for the hike!
Starting the Cocora Valley Hike
The hike through Cocora Valley starts at a blue gate near the jeeps that leave for Salento. You can go left up the road to go clockwise (or if you only want to see the wax palms), or you can go through the blue gate to the right if you want to go counterclockwise. For this post, I’ve written about the hike going counterclockwise. Follow us through the gate!
Trout Hatchery
A very short downhill walk will get you to the first point of interest along the trail, which is a trout hatchery called Truchas Cocora. It’s a fun activity for both adults and kids. For COP$3,000 (as of June 2021), visitors are given a small bag of fish food and are able to feed the fish in their tanks.
The water is taken from the river and flows into various tanks. As the fish grow, they’re moved to other tanks. When they reach an appropriate size, they’re slaughtered and sold to restaurants in the area.
One of the tanks features gigantic trout that weigh about 7kg apiece. These trout are for show only and will not be used for food.
A fishing pond is on the premises, allowing visitors to fish for their dinner and pay for their catch by weight. The fish are scaled and gutted for you on the spot.
Crossing the River
As you continue along the trail, you’ll meet your first obstacle. This is exactly why you need good hiking boots or mud boots. Obviously it’s not always as bad as the picture below, but if it’s been raining, this is a good indication of how muddy some parts of the trail could get.
After that, the river passes over the trail and you’ll come to the first suspension bridge to cross over. You can think of it as a “practice bridge” for the other bridges on the trail.
Finca El Portón
About five minutes later, you’ll see a gate where someone will take your first entrance fee and give you a wristband. This allows you access through Finca El Portón. It’s a narrow trail passing through a fairly flat section of the valley. When it’s raining, expect this to be the muddiest portion of the trail. It gets slippery and might slow you down a bit. I’ve fallen and gotten covered in mud more than once!
If you look up to the left, you’ll see several wax palms dotting the landscape. That’s where you’ll be in about four or five hours. The rest of the scenery along this portion of the trail is beautiful, so I’ll leave you with a few more photos I’ve taken.
Hiking through the Forest
After passing through Finca El Portón, you’ll reach the entrance to the forest. The scenery changes dramatically from a flat open field to dense vegetation while the trail becomes more rocky varied. It follows the river more closely, passing a waterfall after a few minutes.
There’s a very short spur trail that can take you down a steep and sometimes slippery path for a better look at the waterfall. It’s worth checking out.
The suspension bridges start to crisscross the river a little further down the trail. There are five in total, and only one person is allowed on a bridge at a time. In the past, there were a few slippery logs to cross but thankfully they’ve been replaced by bridges.
While hiking along the river is beautiful, there were a few points where it inundated the trail. We had to maneuver over rocks to get across and continue the hike. You won’t have to worry about that if you’re hiking during dry season.
At about the halfway point of the trail, you’ll reach a sign indicating the direction of the trail and the Acaime extension. Whenever I hike, I stop there to rest and have a snack before continuing in either direction.
Acaime Hummingbird Sanctuary
At the sign, you can choose to hike up to Acaime to see the hummingbird sanctuary. It’ll add about an hour each way to your hike. In all honesty, I no longer think it’s worth the detour. In the past I would always take my guests up there, but not anymore. I’ll explain more below.
The trail to Acaime can be rough during rainy season. On one hike, the river flooded the trail and we had to cross on slippery logs and a cable over the river (the log crossing is now a much safer suspension bridge).
Once you get closer, a sign points one way to Acaime and another way to Los Nevados National Park and Estrella de Agua 4.8 km away. Walk up the stairs and you’ll find yet another sign to Acaime.
When you finally reach Acaime, you pay your entrance fee. You’ll get treated to a nice hot aguapanela con queso while watching the hummingbirds.
Is it worth the effort to go all the way up to Acaime? While the drink is nice, it’s not a must see. If you’re going because you think you’ll see flocks of hummingbirds, you’ll more than likely be disappointed. There are a few hummingbirds feeders placed around the house and there have been times where we only saw one or two. You’ll probably see them along the trail and at Finca La Montaña anyway.
Finca La Montaña
Heading along the main trail from the sign, you’ll start the steep climb up to Finca La Montaña. It takes about a half hour to 45 minutes depending on your pace and how adjusted you are to the elevation. This is the toughest part of the hike whether you’re going clockwise or counterclockwise. Again, you can avoid the climb by taking the trail clockwise, but if it’s muddy it’ll be a lot more slippery and treacherous going down than up.
Once you make it all the way up through the forest, you’ll see a clearing and a short but steep switchback trail that takes you up to Finca La Montaña. You can rest on one of the benches and there’s an opportunity to buy a hot or cold drink as well. This is the highest point of the hike. When you’re ready to go, it’s all downhill from there.
The trail is a very easy slight downhill from Finca La Montaña to the next checkpoint at Finca La Esperanza. It takes you through a pine forest. There are some spectacular views along the way and you might even spot some colorful birds.
Finca La Esperanza
After about a half hour of walking, you’ll reach the gate to Finca La Esperanza, where you pay the entrance fee and get another wristband to pass through the Palm Forest (Bosque de Palmas). There’s more beautiful scenery on this stretch of the trail.
Mirador #2
The first point of interest is Mirador #2, where you get your first glimpse of the incredible wax palm forest. It takes about 15 minutes to reach it and the views are spectacular. You can even look down and see the trail that passes through Finca El Portón. On my most recent hike in January 2024, workers were busy building a platform for a safer viewing experience.
Even if it isn’t a clear and sunny day, Mirador #2 has some amazing scenery. I’ve been on cloudy days and it actually adds some drama or even spookiness to the landscape. Also, if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to spot an Andean condor soaring above the valley.
Mirador #1
Next is Mirador #1, which takes about another 15 minutes to reach. It has more wax palms and dramatic scenery. The trail also splits there, with the option to walk down through the Palm Forest or continue along the wider trail. There’s less scenery if you go down the wider trail.
The trail leads down to the Palm Forest and is made up of planks followed by concrete slabs. Enjoy the scenery before you hit the crowds in the touristy part of the Palm Forest.
Palm Forest
The Palm Forest is fun for most tourists but it’s the artificial part of Cocora Valley I don’t like. It’s a mishmash of oddly placed structures, such as angel wings and the “hand of Princess Cocora”, where people try to take ridiculous Instagram pictures. For me, it takes away from the dramatic natural scenery of the valley.
Once you make your way down to the lower entrance, there are a few more touristy scenes such as a Willys Jeep with a Colombian flag among a backdrop of wax palms. There’s also the Valle de Cocora sign in huge letters and a sculpture of Princess Cocora holding an eagle.
At the bottom, you show your wristband and pass through the lower entrance to the Palm Forest. From there, it’s about a 10 minute walk back to the trailhead. You’ll pass more Disneyfied sections of the Cocora Valley along the way, and of course they also charge fees to enter.
Riding a Horse to Cocora Valley
If you don’t want to ride a jeep from Salento to Cocora Valley, you can get there on horseback. It’s a nice ride down the road that connects the town to the valley.
We met Hernando at the end of Calle Real in Salento, just a block down from the plaza. He charged us a reasonable price for each horse. The price was the same for a one-way ride or round trip and we were able to choose the departure time. Hernando also hires horses for tours within Cocora Valley if you don’t feel like hiking the loop trail.
The Ride
Hernando met us at our hotel at 10am. We walked down to the hostel where he keeps the horses and met our guide for the day, Juan. My horse was named Mono while Marisol had Violetta. Both were excellent horses.
Mono was very competitive and loved to be in the lead. If he heard the other horses catching up behind him, he started to run a little faster. He was also very smart and knew his way through town. I didn’t have to guide him down the roads at all which was amazing. He knew exactly where to turn and even stopped at the crossroads to look out for cars!
The ride took about two hours and went through some beautiful landscapes. The road followed the path of the Quindío River for the most part. There was a lot of traffic but the horses handled it well and stuck to the right of the road. When we arrived at the entrance to the Cocora Valley, we said thanks and goodbye to Juan and walked up the path to start exploring.
