Atacazo – Ninahuilca Trail

The Atacazo volcano with its 4457 meters is completely visible from the south of the Quito. It appears as extensive paramo fields that end up at the rocky peaks which line its old caldera. Few adventurers know that towards the volcano west side rise the volcanic domes of the Ninahuilca surrounded by an exhuberant cloud forest. The Ninahuilca Grande as a sloping pyramid covered with vegetation, very difficult to access and recommended only for those who love the fog and dominate the machete skills. Next to it, the Ninahuilca Chico appears as a truncated pyramid painted with sloping sand channels, the result of the last eruption approximately 2300 years ago, all the dome covered by vegetation at its base. The Atacazo Lagoon is a small seasonal lagoon resting at the foot of the Ninahuilca Chico. The Atacazo - Ninahuilca approach trekking starts at the antennas in the Atacazo northern section, at the end of the vehicular road, and heads south west by ringing under the rocks until it reaches the edge of the almost wild paramo from where you have spectacular views of the Ninahuilca domes.