Cajas National Park · Walking route

Cajas Route 9: García Moreno Road

A walk along the historic García Moreno road in Cajas.

Mapped distance: 1.65 km
Walking time: 1 h 00ETAPA estimate for the full route
Difficulty: Moderate
Average altitude: 3,877 m

The route

Follow the old road from the Toreadora refuge past Apicocha and Patoquinuas. This section joins Route 1; arrange your return from the junction.

Relief map of Ruta 9 · Camino García Moreno — Map: © OpenStreetMap · Relief: Copernicus

Elevation profile

≈ 3,801–3,943 m

Total gain: ≈ 10 m
Total loss: ≈ 140 m

In the direction shown below. Walking in reverse swaps gain and loss.

3,950 m3,800 m

0 km0.8 km1.6 km

Approximate terrain elevation · Copernicus GLO-30

If returning along the same path

3.29 km · gain ≈ 150 m · loss ≈ 150 m

These totals include walking the highlighted path both ways. For a crossing, arrange onward travel from the end.

By car, allow time to get back to your parking place. By bus, plan your finishing stop and the last service before setting out.

Highlight this route on the map

Mapped OSM path: 1.6 km. Map sources and distance differences

Refugio ToreadoraStart
Laguna Apicocha
Laguna Patoquinuas
Cruce con Ruta 1End

Before you walk

Register at the control
Ask which way the route is marked that day, and stay on it.
Start early
No walk may start or continue after 16:00.
Dress for cold and rain
Warm waterproof layers, good shoes, water and food. The weather changes fast at this altitude.
Stay out of the lakes
Swimming and wading are not allowed.

Getting there: Confirm the start and finish at the park control. Transport and registration

The other Cajas routes

Route 1
Nature and Human History
Lakes, woodland and a historic road on one loop.
5.5 km · Moderate
Route 2
Cerro San Luis Summit
Short and steep, to a summit above 4,000 m.
2.6 km · High
Route 3
Quinuas Valley
A full day of páramo and lakes.
7.9 km · Moderate
Route 4
Historic Paths
From Tres Cruces past Larga and Togllacocha.
3.6 km · Moderate
Route 5
Avilahuaycu Summit
A summit climb, returning the same way.
1.8 km · High
Route 6
Burines Valley
Cucheros, the Burines valley and Caballo Shayana.
6.1 km · High
Route 7
Inca Road and Great Lakes
Luspa, Burines and Mamamag on a long crossing.
15 km · High
Route 8
Gran Osohuaycu
From Luspa through Osohuaycu to Burines.
12.4 km · High

Compare all nine routes →

Plan your visit

Sources

Path and distance from OpenStreetMap, checked 16 October 2026. Route name, difficulty, average altitude and estimated walking time from ETAPA; its published distance may differ.

Camino García Moreno shares these OSM ways named Ruta 1, from the Toreadora refuge past Apicocha and Patoquinuas to the eastern Route 1 junction. ETAPA’s 2012 guide identifies this historic-road corridor (points 21–29), and its archaeology inventory names the same lakes. This is the identifiable shared section; the precise endpoints of the catalogue’s 2.46 km itinerary remain unresolved.

OSM paths checked 16 October 2026. The 2012 ETAPA guide covers Routes 1–6.

Elevation profiles use Copernicus GLO-30 terrain, approximately 31 m resolution, sampled every 50 m or less and smoothed over three samples. Gain and loss sum the changes within each section and are rounded to 10 m. Disconnected sections remain separate; gaps add no distance or elevation change.

Something changed?

A stop moved, a line changed or a place closed? Tell us and we will check it.

Report a problem