MORROGACHO

In this post, we will show you all the related information about the route to Cerro Morrogacho. A tourist destination that is located in the Coffee Region, more specifically in the Department of Quindío.

Do you want to do this trail with a local guide? click here 👈

You will be able to enjoy a small historical review of this captivating route, since, as is well known, it is one of the most difficult hiking routes in the Coffee Region, which is very frequented by many adventurers 🤠. It is important to mention that it is one of the most demanding mountains to climb in the Coffee Region due to its high degree of demand when doing it. Finally, we will give you some advice from our experience and the different tours to Cerro Morrogacho from Pereira, Manizales and other places in the country so that your experience is to your complete liking and enjoyment. Not being more, enjoy this captivating route located in the heart of the Coffee Region.

[Ver este post en Español 🇨🇴]

CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT MORROGACHO

Quindío is one of the places where we can find traces of the Quimbaya culture, and the Morrogacho hill is no stranger to this, since in 1940 when the Chemical Engineer Enrico Turati of Italian nationality took an excellent photograph in which some structures could be observed lithic or also called "Cancel Tombs" 🗿 whose stone structures correspond to a funerary practice typical of the cultures that inhabited the Quimbaya territory.

In 1982, the recently created Quindío Archaeological Protection Committee visited the site and verified the systematic looting of the structures, especially the one that had been photographed by Turati, which has its upper part in the form of a gabled roof.

[References: Cronicadelquindio ]

PLACES YOU WILL SEE ON THE ASCENT TO CERRO MORROGACHO

TOUR TO MORROGACHO

To go to Morrogacho Hill, you should know that it is not a very popular route, so group excursions are usually carried out by hiking groups from the Coffee Region.

Prices of the tour to Morrogacho: In general, the agencies are charging an average of $80,000 per person, the minimum group with which the tour is carried out is 5 people. This value includes: entrance fee to Morrogacho hill, transportation, medical assistance insurance and guide. If you are interested in doing this tour you can give👉 Click here

HOW TO GET TO MORROGACHO?

Cerro Morrogacho is located in the Cocora valley, I confess that this is a route little known by people outside the Coffee Region. We heard about this place from hikers from Quindío when we were traveling through this beautiful department. I still remember it, it was a couple who saw us with all our mountaineering equipment, we talked for a while and then they recommended us to make the tour to this wonderful hill.

So we decided to search for information on the Internet to learn a little more about this route, to our surprise it is considered a demanding hiking route in the Coffee Region, so we are more encouraged to do it.

We immediately contacted the agency and they quickly told us that we were signed up for the tour. The most curious thing of all was that my friend told me with amazement and with laughter “We definitely have an enormous love for traveling and discovering the hidden wonders of the Coffee Region”.

The day came and we were ready to start our trip to Quindío. We start by addressing bus from the terminal of Pereira to the municipality of Salento , It took us 1 hour to get to Salento, where we later met the group of travelers who were going to make the route to Cerro Morrogacho.

Already being in the town of Salento, we started our journey to the Cocora Valley by Jeep, this journey took approximately twenty minutes, we arrived and met our guide who gave us all the details of the route.

PATH TO MORROGACHO

Before explaining the route a bit, I want to clarify that the Cocora Valley is 2,400 meters above sea level (masl), while the Morrogacho Hill is at 3,450 masl, and from the Cocora Valley to the Morrogacho hill there are 6.4 kilometers, you can imagine the little climb 😅, the total journey is approximately 10 hours (round trip).

Photo by: @fedmolina

From the Valle del Cocora, we started our route towards Cerro Morrogacho, at the entrance of the trail the officials of the National Park asked us for our information such as: Name, telephone number, route to take and who was our guide.

Route Map from Cocora valley to Morrogacho hill

After having walked for about 4 hours from Cocora valley, the path led us to a farm where the entrance fee is paid.

Note: Once you arrive at the farms and paddocks, it is important that you go with a guide since on previous occasions many people have had problems, since these farms are private and do not allow strangers to pass through the grounds.

After having walked for about 4 hours from Cocora valley, the path led us to a farm where the entrance fee is paid.

Note: Once you arrive at the farms and paddocks, it is important that you go with a guide since on previous occasions many people have had problems, since these farms are private and they do not allow strangers to pass through the land.

ASCENT TO CERRO MORROGACHO FOREST SECTION

After having paid the entrance fee to this farm, we continue with our tour through paddocks that were not demarcated, which makes it easy for one to get lost. As we advanced, we began to see more trees and the road began to become more demanding since we were already in full ascent to the hill, the road was more inclined and full of swamp and denser vegetation, so the hardness was already felt. of the tour.

It is worth mentioning that it is a route of approximately 4 or 5 hours (ascent only) due to the difficulty of the terrain, and the weather conditions. In the last hour of the route, the demand and difficulty were totally extreme since the slope of the hill was almost impossible to climb 🧗, in our case, this mountain demanded the most from us.

In the absence of a last kilometer of ascent towards Cerro Morrogacho, we began to feel the route a little more scalable because we had already done the most demanding sections, and it was just a matter of walking with a little more tranquility through an area completely populated with trees and denser vegetation, so our long-sleeved divers protected us from this vegetation, since in some cases it can be somewhat uncomfortable since it tends to cause itchiness in the body.

Finally we arrived at the long-awaited Cerro Morrogacho, we arrived supremely exhausted almost out of breath due to the demands of the route. But the reward was being able to enjoy the view that the hill offered us, we could see the Paramillo del Quindío, the Nevado del Tolima, Cerro Chispas, the Páramo de Romerales, etc. It is a unique feeling to have climbed this imposing hill within the Quindiana geography ⛰🥹.

Photo by: @ginabont

Once there, we chose to take a short break to recover our energy, enjoy the view, the fresh air that could be breathed. After having enjoyed this beautiful mountain for a period of time, we began our descent until we reached the Cocora valley where we boarded our Jeep which would take us back to the municipality of Salento. Once we arrive in Salento, we will board our bus back to Pereira.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Here we will give you some recommendations that you must take into account when making the route to Cerro Morrogacho. It is important that you follow these suggestions step by step, which will be of great help so that you do not have to live a terrible experience on the route to Cerro Morrogacho.

• Have an excellent physical condition since this route is very demanding and its ascent has an average height difference of 1,000 to 1,200 meters, which you must climb until reaching 3,476 meters above sea level that Cerro Morrogacho has. That is why, in case you want to make this ascent, make sure you are in excellent physical condition so that you do not have to have a hard time, as happened to a member of our expedition group who experienced several episodes of vomiting and drowning.

• It has enough hydration because the weather is often oppressive due to the high temperatures that are perceived in that mountainous area, typical of a tropical zone. In addition, as you face Cerro Morrogacho, you must, like us, take several breaks to take a breath, cool off and continue with the tour. Therefore, we had to be hydrated to conserve all the energy that this hill demanded.

• Bring a trekking stick because the route has very demanding sections in terms of topography and geographical location. We recommend this in order to minimize the impact on your knees since you do not want to experience additional suffering than you will experience while doing the tour. And you are going to ask yourself, why? Because on our tour, one of our companions mentioned to us that she had a lot of pain in her knees because she forgot her canes, so here is the importance of always taking them to this type of tour.

• Wear long-sleeved jumpsuits this will protect you from the burning sun that it usually does and, in addition, we also recommend it because the forest and the vegetation in the sector can be dangerous. So, it is a good option that you wear long-sleeved divers. This will protect you from the hot sun that it usually does and, in addition, we also recommend it because the forest and the vegetation in the sector can be dangerous. So, it is a good option that you wear long-sleeved divers.

• Bring a windbreaker both for you and for us it is a highly recommended option since, on our tour, in several areas, it felt very cold as well as a wind that hit very hard, so a good windbreaker jacket will protect you a lot and it will also be handy in case it's raining.

This is the end of the route to Morrogacho hill, do not forget to follow us on our social networks to learn more places like this 👉 Instagram y Youtube.