Ecuador Avenue of the Volcanoes: Quito to Latacunga

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Quito

   Quito sits almost on the equator and almost two miles up, and the two facts together explain a lot. At about 2,850 metres the air is thin, the sun is fierce, and the days are mild whatever the calendar says, so the city lives in a permanent early spring. It stretches for kilometres along a narrow Andean valley, with Pichincha volcano rising on the western side and, on clear mornings, the snow cone of Cotopaxi and other peaks visible to the south and east.

   Read the complete Quito write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Quito is where the day begins. Next is Cotopaxi.

2. 2. Cotopaxi

   Cotopaxi is the volcano every Ecuadorian child can draw: a near-perfect cone of 5,897 metres, capped with glacier, rising out of high grassland an hour or so south of Quito. It is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world, and it last erupted in 2015, sending ash over the surrounding villages and closing the national park for months. The park has since reopened, though access can be restricted whenever the mountain gets restless, so ask locally before you commit to the day.

   Read the complete Cotopaxi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Cotopaxi comes up about 77 km into the recorded legs. Next is Latacunga.

3. 3. Latacunga

   Latacunga lies at about 2,750 metres in the high Andean valley that the explorer Alexander von Humboldt called the Avenue of the Volcanoes, and the name is hardly an exaggeration. On a clear morning the snowy cone of Cotopaxi, nearly 5,900 metres high, hangs above the plain to the east, with Iliniza and other peaks to the west. The town has a slightly worn, dignified look, with many buildings made from pale volcanic stone and plazas shaded by old trees.

   Read the complete Latacunga 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 136 km.