Ecuador Avenue of the Volcanoes: Chimborazo Reserve to Cuenca

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Chimborazo Reserve

   Chimborazo is a dormant volcano 6,263 metres high, the highest mountain in Ecuador, and it holds a remarkable record. Because the earth bulges at the equator, the summit is the point on the planet's surface farthest from its centre, further out than Everest, a fact that sounds like a quiz answer but feels real when you stand in the thin air at four thousand metres and look up at the glaciers. The mountain is also revered by the Andean peoples who live around it, as a powerful presence, and the scientist Alexander von Humboldt tried to climb it in 1802 and reached about 5,800 metres, the highest anyone had been at that time.

   Read the complete Chimborazo Reserve write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Chimborazo Reserve is where the day begins. Next is Riobamba.

2. 2. Riobamba

   At roughly 2,750 metres above sea level, Riobamba is a high-altitude city that wears its height lightly. It sits in a wide basin in the central Andes of Ecuador, surrounded by volcanoes, and on clear mornings Chimborazo, the tallest mountain in the country at about 6,263 metres, stands in the distance with its snowy summit catching the first light. Because the Earth bulges at the equator, Chimborazo's summit is the farthest point on the planet's surface from its centre, which makes it a tempting claim for the title of the world's highest mountain.

   Read the complete Riobamba write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Riobamba comes up about 49 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cuenca.

3. 3. Cuenca

   Cuenca stands at about two and a half thousand metres in the southern Andes of Ecuador, where the air is thin and cool, and the rivers run down from the high moorland of El Cajas toward the Amazon basin and the Pacific. It is the third city of the country, a place of red-tiled roofs, whitewashed walls and wrought-iron balconies that was granted World Heritage status in 1999 for its well-preserved colonial grid, laid out in the sixteenth century on the site of an Inca settlement. The Tomebamba river runs along the southern edge of the old town, and its banks are lined with old houses with balconies hanging over the water.

   Read the complete Cuenca write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 305 km.