The guide
Los Nevados was declared a national park in 1974 and covers more than 61,000 hectares across four departments. From Salento you reach its Quindío–Dulima sector via vereda Cocora — the park boundary is about 14 km beyond the valley.
Up here the terrain is demanding and the main activity is mountaineering, with the Paramillo del Quindío — the highest point in the department — usually tackled over several days.
What’s up there
Páramo makes up most of the park: open moorland studded with frailejones (Espeletia hartwegiana), home to the Andean condor and the buffy helmetcrest hummingbird. Wax palms grow in the high-Andean forests on the way up.
Altitude and weather
The park asks visitors to be fit for high mountain, carry clothing for temperatures below 0 °C and rain, stop for about ten minutes at intervals while climbing to acclimatise, and use high-factor sunscreen and UV glasses. Altitude sickness is a real risk.
The ladder is steep: Salento ≈1,900 m → Cocora up to 2,400 m → Acaime up to 3,100 m → páramo and the Paramillo around 4,750 m.
Paramillo del Quindío, PNN Los Nevados Destination photo — not the hostel Frailejones in Los Nevados Destination photo — not the hostel
