Cajas National Park

Cajas National Park, just 30 kilometers west of Cuenca, is a surreal landscape of 786 glacier-carved lakes scattered across rolling páramo grasslands between 3,100 and 4,450 meters. The park sits on the continental divide - water flowing east reaches the Amazon, while west-flowing streams eventually reach the Pacific.

The otherworldly terrain of golden tussock grass, stunted polylepis forests (some of the world's highest-growing trees), and mirror-still lakes creates hiking unlike anywhere else in Ecuador. Fog and mist are constant companions, adding an ethereal quality. The park is also an important water source for Cuenca and a biodiversity hotspot with Andean condors, spectacled bears, and dozens of hummingbird species.

June to September has the driest weather, though fog and mist are possible year-round. Temperatures range 2-12°C at these altitudes. Clear mornings are most common - start hikes early.