La Chorrera Falls - A day hike from Bogota
When I arrived in Bogota, it was very rainy and cold and according to the weather forecast, it was going to be that way nearly every day. After checking into my hostel, I overheard some other tourists saying they were abandoning their trekking plans and heading to the coast to get out of the rain. May is the rainiest month in this region. I only have a week in Colombia, and it didn’t seem worthwhile to leave town if the weather was going to be so miserable. I had also read there are several day hikes one can do from Bogota, and figured that would keep me entertained, should the weather improve – and it did, for a few days.
There are at least 20 different day hikes that are possible from Bogota. A few are on the edge of the city, along the mountain ridges that surround the valley. Of those, I kept reading warnings about thieves on the trails, even in posts as recent as April of this year. People recommended hiking in groups, not bringing your wallet or mobile phone, hiking between the hours of 9AM and noon and only if there are police present… Those hikes sounded like a hassle.
But I was hoping to get out of the city, so I looked for a day hike a little further away. Some hikes were a long bus ride from the city. Some require a very early start (before dawn) if they are to be completed in one day. And some sounded very touristy and busy. When I read about the hike to La Chorrera Falls, I thought it sounded perfect. A relatively easy hike just an hour outside of the city and reachable by public transit.
In order to get to La Chorrera, I needed to go to a bus station in the center of the city. I’d read that it was a bad idea to walk there – and upon reading that, I was a little surprised because… I’d already walked through that area the day before. I’d just been wandering around town and was within half a block of the bus station. It didn’t seem dangerous to me. Curious, I looked for reasons to avoid that area – the reasons involved public urination – I mean, yeah, I DID see that… And drugs… and yes, I also saw that. The street around the brothels (sorry, hotels) was definitely worse. Perhaps I’ve been desensitized to these things.
The minibus was 8,000 pesos (less than 3 dollars CAD). It left at 8 AM - on time, even though it was practically empty! We drove up and over the mountains on the East side of the city and then drove along a huge valley full of farms, stopping to pick up and drop off people along the way. The driver let me off at the turn off to the falls. I’d read there would be cars waiting there to drive me down into the valley for a price – there weren’t. But I had been planning to walk anyway.
There are at least 20 different day hikes that are possible from Bogota. A few are on the edge of the city, along the mountain ridges that surround the valley. Of those, I kept reading warnings about thieves on the trails, even in posts as recent as April of this year. People recommended hiking in groups, not bringing your wallet or mobile phone, hiking between the hours of 9AM and noon and only if there are police present… Those hikes sounded like a hassle.
But I was hoping to get out of the city, so I looked for a day hike a little further away. Some hikes were a long bus ride from the city. Some require a very early start (before dawn) if they are to be completed in one day. And some sounded very touristy and busy. When I read about the hike to La Chorrera Falls, I thought it sounded perfect. A relatively easy hike just an hour outside of the city and reachable by public transit.
In order to get to La Chorrera, I needed to go to a bus station in the center of the city. I’d read that it was a bad idea to walk there – and upon reading that, I was a little surprised because… I’d already walked through that area the day before. I’d just been wandering around town and was within half a block of the bus station. It didn’t seem dangerous to me. Curious, I looked for reasons to avoid that area – the reasons involved public urination – I mean, yeah, I DID see that… And drugs… and yes, I also saw that. The street around the brothels (sorry, hotels) was definitely worse. Perhaps I’ve been desensitized to these things.
The minibus was 8,000 pesos (less than 3 dollars CAD). It left at 8 AM - on time, even though it was practically empty! We drove up and over the mountains on the East side of the city and then drove along a huge valley full of farms, stopping to pick up and drop off people along the way. The driver let me off at the turn off to the falls. I’d read there would be cars waiting there to drive me down into the valley for a price – there weren’t. But I had been planning to walk anyway.
It was about 5 km from the highway to the trailhead. Some of the descent was very steep. In those sections, the road was paved with deep grooves to give vehicles traction. Most of the road was gravel and it circled around the edge of the valley, slowly winding its way down. It was a nice walk. I didn’t see very many people other than children arriving at school. Navy rubber boots were part of their school uniform. I saw lots of cows and chickens, a few pigs. Lots of dogs too, though most didn’t seem to mind me walking by. Closer to the bottom of the valley, I did encounter an angry pack of young dogs. They all started barking and charging toward me, but they weren’t much older than puppies and it was kind of too adorable to be frightening. That is… until their mother came running around the corner. She was much bigger. She barked and ran straight for me, but within just a second or two, she deemed me not to be a threat and backed off. She gathered up her puppies and coaxed them back into the yard. The second pack of dogs was much more vicious. I was very happy to have my trekking poles. The dogs surrounded me, so I had to swing my poles in front and behind me to keep the dogs at a distance. I didn’t get bit, so that’s a win.
As I approached the trailhead, I passed a home where a man told me he could drive me back to the highway after my hike. Given how far I’d come downhill, I thought I might take him up on the offer upon my return.
The trails around the falls lay on private land. You have to pay a few dollars to hike the trails, but the trails are well maintained, there are safety railings and signs everywhere. The English translations were amusing. I think they may have been translated by someone that has bad handwriting.
As I approached the trailhead, I passed a home where a man told me he could drive me back to the highway after my hike. Given how far I’d come downhill, I thought I might take him up on the offer upon my return.
The trails around the falls lay on private land. You have to pay a few dollars to hike the trails, but the trails are well maintained, there are safety railings and signs everywhere. The English translations were amusing. I think they may have been translated by someone that has bad handwriting.
There are actually a few different waterfalls along the trails. The first one is called Chiflon and is a rather spectacular waterfall, even if it’s not the main attraction. There are two paths that take you up and behind the water. It was kind of fun (and wet). I walked that loop, exploring the falls and the river before continuing on to La Chorrera.
La Chorrera falls are 590 meters in height. It’s possible to see the full height of the falls only from a distance. I was lucky to be able to see them at all, I think. The weather was wonderful the day of my hike and there were no clouds or fog obscuring the view. That said, I wish I’d known that the falls are best viewed in the morning before the sun moved west, I might have tried to get there an hour earlier. Oh well.
I hiked to the base of the falls where I really couldn’t see much at all, but the river was nice.
Somewhere along the way I picked up a dog that hiked with me for a few hours. I shared some peanut butter and jam sandwiches with him, and we became friends. I called him Buddy.
On the return, I stopped to inquire about a ride back to the highway from the man I’d spoken to earlier. He wanted 30,000 pesos to drive me 5 km. That’s a lot, given that I got all the way from Bogota for only 8,000. He wanted to impress me with his math skills, explaining that it would only be 6,000 each if there were 5 people. Not sure how he thought that bit of information was useful to me, but he told me that 3 times. I told him I wasn’t interested and that I would walk. It was only 2PM and I wasn’t in a hurry to get back to the city.
Buddy, my dog friend hiked halfway up the valley with me. He was rather timid around other dogs until we encountered one of the aggressive packs that had harassed me on the way down. When the pack charged me, Buddy jumped in and started fighting. I yelled and that seemed to break up the fight, but the pack backed off and Buddy returned to my side. We kept walking without further incident. Buddy left me when we passed a house in the valley – I’m guessing that was his home. He turned to say goodbye halfway up the lane.
The walk back to the highway was very tiring by the end, but there was a little shop on the highway that sold cold beer. I sat in the shade enjoying a beer on the side of the highway while I waited for a bus. I didn’t have to wait long. I got a ride back to Bogota and was able to get off not too far from my hostel (I walked back through the oh so dangerous streets!)
On the return, I stopped to inquire about a ride back to the highway from the man I’d spoken to earlier. He wanted 30,000 pesos to drive me 5 km. That’s a lot, given that I got all the way from Bogota for only 8,000. He wanted to impress me with his math skills, explaining that it would only be 6,000 each if there were 5 people. Not sure how he thought that bit of information was useful to me, but he told me that 3 times. I told him I wasn’t interested and that I would walk. It was only 2PM and I wasn’t in a hurry to get back to the city.
Buddy, my dog friend hiked halfway up the valley with me. He was rather timid around other dogs until we encountered one of the aggressive packs that had harassed me on the way down. When the pack charged me, Buddy jumped in and started fighting. I yelled and that seemed to break up the fight, but the pack backed off and Buddy returned to my side. We kept walking without further incident. Buddy left me when we passed a house in the valley – I’m guessing that was his home. He turned to say goodbye halfway up the lane.
The walk back to the highway was very tiring by the end, but there was a little shop on the highway that sold cold beer. I sat in the shade enjoying a beer on the side of the highway while I waited for a bus. I didn’t have to wait long. I got a ride back to Bogota and was able to get off not too far from my hostel (I walked back through the oh so dangerous streets!)