Cotopaxi Volcano Trek | Trip Itinerary

Day 1/Sat: Quito. Arrival in Quito, where you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Day 2/Sun: Pintag In the early hours of the morning, you will leave Quito on a one and a half hour drive to the rural area  of “Pintag” from where you will start your trek at 8,600ft. You will enjoy a moderate uphill walk through Haciendas and past typical Andean houses. The trek continues until you reach the Ubillus rural area where you will set up camp by a natural spring at 9,100ft. (B, L, D)

Day 3/Mon: Sincholagua Mountain. Today you will start walk through typical Andean vegetation on a beautiful scenic cobblestone road for about 2 hours, and continue walking through farmlands for about one hour. After your picnic lunch you will start a 3-hour uphill trek to a small valley and enjoy the beautiful sight of the Paramo landscape. You will continue uphill until reaching the slopes of the Sincholagua Mountain where camp will be set up at 12,450ft. (B, L, D)

Day 4/Tue: Sincholagua – Pita River. After an early breakfast we start our trek uphill towards the highest pass (14,430ft) on our trek and from here we start our descent passing through a native forest and highland Paramo vegetation with extraordinary views or the Cotopaxi (on clear days) as we continue our descent we will be able to see the Sinig Lagoon to our left, to then follow-on and across the Pita river in order to reach our camp a very nice and sheltered place. Camp (12,210ft). (B, L, D)

Day 5/Wed:  Jatabamba Lagoon. This day will be a little shorter in order to give us enough time to explore the area of Jatabamba and it’s numerous Lagoons (13,340ft), the trek will take us from the Manantial up to the north eastern flanks of the Cotopaxi until we reach Santo Domingo Lagoon (13.100ft) where we will set camp facing the Cotopaxi. (B, L, D)

Day 6/Thu: Rumiñahui Mountain. This day we will descent to the Cotopaxi plateau passing through a stone valley formed by a ancient eruption of the Cotopaxi volcano and visit the archaeological site of Incahuasi, on our way across to the Rumiñahui Mountain , and trek to one of the high ridges at 13,100ft, when if clear we can have an spectacular view of the Cotopaxi.  After a stop for lunch we will start our descent toward the Tambopaxi mountain lodge where you will spend the night. There are permanent washing and toilet facilities, with accommodation in-doors. (B, L, D)

Day 7/Fri: Cotopaxi - Quito.  A further four hours trekking takes us past Rumiñahui us to the Limpiopungo Lake in the foothills of Cotopaxi. For those wishing to climb Cotopaxi, vehicles will be provided in the morning to transport you to the refuge at 4,800m (optional with extra cost). Overnight at your selected hotel. (B, L)

Day 8/Sat: Transfer to the airport on your own, or continue with more sightseeing. (B)

B=Breakfast; L=Lunch; D=Dinner