San Gil Extreme Sports
Information and Reservations
Information and Reservations
Hiking The Camino Real
(La Pacha Hostel)- Cabrera - Barichara - Guane - Villanueva - Jordan - Los Santos
History
Santander has a whole network of ancestral paths connecting the towns in the region. These ancient paths were used for trade between the Guane people and some of these trails date back to 700 years before the arrival of the Spaniards. Nowadays the paths are called caminos reales (“royal paths”) or camino Lengerke, named after a German settler who paved some parts of these roads with cobblestone.
Route
The Camino real starts in Cabrera and passes through Barichara, Guane, Villanueva, Jordan and Los Santos. It takes in two enormous canyons, The Suarez Canyon and The Chicamocha Canyon, and takes about three days to hike. All of these routes can be found on the free Wikilocs hiking app.
Starting At La Pacha
Although the Camino Real officially starts in Cabrera, we think a great place to begin is La Pacha Hostel because the beautiful 4 hour hike from here to Cabrera (or Barichara, 2.5 hours) takes you up over the mountain, passing the highest point (and the best view) in the entire region. You can leave your bags with us and just take what is necessary. We can also send your bags with our trusted taxis on to a designated meeting place.
Options
1) You can hike the whole route, spending the nights wild camping or staying in hostels in the villages. It should take 3-4 days.
2) You can do the following day hikes and travel to or from La Pacha by bus. The bus timetable is at the bottom of the page.
La Pacha - Cabrera (4 hours)
La Pacha - Barichara (2.5 hours)
La Pacha - Cabrera - Barichara (6 hours)
La Pacha - Barichara - Guane (5 hours)
Barichara - Guane (2 hours)
Barichara - Guane - Villanueva ( 1.5hours)
Barichara - Villanueva (2 hours)
Villanueva - Jordan - Villanueva (5 hours)
Santander has a whole network of ancestral paths connecting the towns in the region. These ancient paths were used for trade between the Guane people and some of these trails date back to 700 years before the arrival of the Spaniards. Nowadays the paths are called caminos reales (“royal paths”) or camino Lengerke, named after a German settler who paved some parts of these roads with cobblestone.
Route
The Camino real starts in Cabrera and passes through Barichara, Guane, Villanueva, Jordan and Los Santos. It takes in two enormous canyons, The Suarez Canyon and The Chicamocha Canyon, and takes about three days to hike. All of these routes can be found on the free Wikilocs hiking app.
Starting At La Pacha
Although the Camino Real officially starts in Cabrera, we think a great place to begin is La Pacha Hostel because the beautiful 4 hour hike from here to Cabrera (or Barichara, 2.5 hours) takes you up over the mountain, passing the highest point (and the best view) in the entire region. You can leave your bags with us and just take what is necessary. We can also send your bags with our trusted taxis on to a designated meeting place.
Options
1) You can hike the whole route, spending the nights wild camping or staying in hostels in the villages. It should take 3-4 days.
2) You can do the following day hikes and travel to or from La Pacha by bus. The bus timetable is at the bottom of the page.
La Pacha - Cabrera (4 hours)
La Pacha - Barichara (2.5 hours)
La Pacha - Cabrera - Barichara (6 hours)
La Pacha - Barichara - Guane (5 hours)
Barichara - Guane (2 hours)
Barichara - Guane - Villanueva ( 1.5hours)
Barichara - Villanueva (2 hours)
Villanueva - Jordan - Villanueva (5 hours)
Hiking From La Pacha
All of these routes are on the Komoot app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.komoot.android
Barichara
From La Pacha you can hike to the beautiful town of Barichara. The beginning of the route is uphill on walking paths which do not show up on maps. From the top you will follow mostly empty dirt roads. Here you can find the route, it takes about 2.5 hours.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.komoot.android
Barichara
From La Pacha you can hike to the beautiful town of Barichara. The beginning of the route is uphill on walking paths which do not show up on maps. From the top you will follow mostly empty dirt roads. Here you can find the route, it takes about 2.5 hours.
Cabrera
Another colonial town you can walk to from La Pacha in about 3 hours is Cabrera. The beginning of the hike is the same as to Barichara, once at the top you can follow dirt roads deep into very remote countryside and finally down a steep path eventually reaching the town. From Cabrera the hike continues to Barichara.
San Gil
San Gil can be reached from La Pacha on foot, avoiding the main road and following mostly dirt roads. Here you can find the route, it will take you about 3 hours going almost exclusively downhill.
Another colonial town you can walk to from La Pacha in about 3 hours is Cabrera. The beginning of the hike is the same as to Barichara, once at the top you can follow dirt roads deep into very remote countryside and finally down a steep path eventually reaching the town. From Cabrera the hike continues to Barichara.
San Gil
San Gil can be reached from La Pacha on foot, avoiding the main road and following mostly dirt roads. Here you can find the route, it will take you about 3 hours going almost exclusively downhill.
Barichara - Zapatoca
Another more demanding hike along those ancient paths is from Barichara to Guane and crossing the Suaréz river to the town of Zapatoca. This hike includes 1500 meters of ascend and takes about 9.5 hours, however it could be shortened to 8 hours by starting from Guane. From Zapatoca there is a bus to Bucaramanga and from there back to San Gil and Barichara. Here is the route.
Another more demanding hike along those ancient paths is from Barichara to Guane and crossing the Suaréz river to the town of Zapatoca. This hike includes 1500 meters of ascend and takes about 9.5 hours, however it could be shortened to 8 hours by starting from Guane. From Zapatoca there is a bus to Bucaramanga and from there back to San Gil and Barichara. Here is the route.
San Gil - Curití
A moderate hike from San Gil is the walk to the small town of Curití, known for the Pescaderito river. This 20 km route follows mostly unpaved and paved paths and takes around 5 hours to complete, passing the former hacienda of the Count of Cuchicute. Here is the route on komoot and wikiloc.
Artisan Walk from Barichara
If you are interested in local craftsmanship there is a route beginning and ending in Barichara that passes by workshops of wood, stone and natural fiber. This loop takes around 3 hours to complete. Here is the route on komoot and wikiloc.
A moderate hike from San Gil is the walk to the small town of Curití, known for the Pescaderito river. This 20 km route follows mostly unpaved and paved paths and takes around 5 hours to complete, passing the former hacienda of the Count of Cuchicute. Here is the route on komoot and wikiloc.
Artisan Walk from Barichara
If you are interested in local craftsmanship there is a route beginning and ending in Barichara that passes by workshops of wood, stone and natural fiber. This loop takes around 3 hours to complete. Here is the route on komoot and wikiloc.
Barichara
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