This 9.5 mile/15.3 km hike traverses about half of Volcano Imbabura. It offers stunning views from different angles of the volcano and the surrounding landscape. If walkers start at the Cerro Cubilche trail drop-off point (taxi drivers know where to take you) and walk to Quichuqui, the hike is mostly flat or downhill (starts at 11,061 ft/3,371 m, ends at 9,018 ft/2,749 m). You could hike it in the opposite direction, but it would be difficult! The downside of this hike is that the trailhead is 1.5 - 2 hours from Cotacachi. It entails a bus ride to Ibarra and a taxi from Ibarra to Las Abras, which is about 30 minutes above Esperanza.

 

The trail starts where the road above Las Abras turns to dirt (about 1.25 km before the Cubliche trailhead). This is where most taxi drivers will drop you.  Most of the trek is easy to follow, especially if you use our downloadable KML file. There are a couple of turns you need to be aware of:  1) About 150 m into the walk, make sure to turn left (downhill)  2) There are many roads leading downhill (left) that intersect with our trail. Always stay on the right-hand trail/road until you've walked about 7.2 km, At this point, turn left (downhill). About 650 m down the hill, you can turn right at the eucalyptus grove and walk through bare fields until you reach a trail, or you can continue walking downhill for 500 meters, then turn right. From this point, you will stay on a wide dirt road for about 6.5 km, then turn left (downhill) just before the big rock with colored flags. There is a bus stop 600 meters down the road with buses to Otavalo. Continue walking if you prefer to take a taxi - there's not a taxi stand, but they do come by or you can ask for help from the friendly local people.  We recommend following THIS downloadable KML file on a phone app.

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