Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 333 km round trip from Tangua - roughly 6 h 37 in the saddle. It goes by way of Segment Pulcas - Troya A, Segment Loma Virgen - Chiquito and back through Segment Pulcas - Troya A. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 3,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Colombia into Ecuador - carry ID and check the toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Inantaz
Tangua and Yacuanquer are small highland towns in the department of Nariño, in the far south-west of Colombia, and Inantaz sits among their fields at roughly the latitude of the equator, on high ground above the valley of the Guáitara. This is the Andean altiplano of Nariño, a patchwork of potato, maize and pasture fields on steep slopes, with volcanoes rising behind. Galeras, the active volcano above Pasto, is not far to the north-east, and on a clear morning its cone dominates the view.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Inantaz is where the day begins. Next is Segment Pulcas - Troya A.
2. Segment Pulcas - Troya A
Tulcán is the last Ecuadorian city before Colombia, a high, cold, windswept place at almost 3,000 metres, and it has one of the strangest sights in the Andes: a cemetery where cypress trees have been clipped into elaborate topiary, with figures, arches and geometric shapes, a tradition started by a local gardener in the 1930s. Near the city, the segment of Inca road between Pulcas and Troya is part of the Qhapaq Ñan World Heritage Site, marking the northern reaches of the Inca road system, which extended into what is now southern Colombia.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Pulcas - Troya A comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Loma Virgen - Chiquito.
3. Segment Loma Virgen - Chiquito
High in the Andes of northern Ecuador, between El Ángel and Pimampiro in the province of Carchi, a stretch of the Qhapaq Ñan, the great road network of the Inca Empire, crosses the páramo, the high grassland that blankets the mountains above the tree line. The Inca built more than thirty thousand kilometres of roads across their empire, from Colombia to Chile and Argentina, linking towns, temples and storehouses, and this northern section, near the empire's frontier, was among the last to be built before the Spanish conquest. The Qhapaq Ñan was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2014 as a transnational site shared by six countries, with hundreds of individual segments, including this one.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Inantaz. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Inantaz to Segment Pulcas - Troya A
Inantaz → Segment Pulcas - Troya A is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Segment Pulcas - Troya A to Segment Loma Virgen - Chiquito
Segment Pulcas - Troya A → Segment Loma Virgen - Chiquito is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Segment Loma Virgen - Chiquito to back through Segment Pulcas - Troya A
Segment Loma Virgen - Chiquito → back through Segment Pulcas - Troya A is 97 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Segment Pulcas - Troya A to Inantaz
back through Segment Pulcas - Troya A → Inantaz is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.