Why this ride
119 km from Ipiales to Ipiales, about 3 h 19 of riding. It goes by way of San Pedro, Chitarran and back through San Pedro. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 3,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Segment Rumichaca and Chitarran
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 119 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 19
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Segment Rumichaca
Rumichaca means stone bridge in Quechua, and the name is literal: here the Carchi River, which becomes the Guáitara on the Colombian side, flows beneath a natural arch of rock that has carried travellers between what are now Colombia and Ecuador for centuries. The Inca road passed this way, and a segment of the Qhapaq Ñan near the crossing is part of the World Heritage listing. Today the main border post between the two countries sits right here, with the modern bridge carrying the Pan-American Highway beside the old crossing.
Read the complete Segment Rumichaca write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Rumichaca is where the day begins. Next is San Pedro.
2. San Pedro
Ipiales is the last big Colombian town before Ecuador, and the high, cold plateau around it is some of the most dramatic farmland in the Andes. San Pedro lies a little north-west of the city, in a landscape of terraces, small farms and green slopes that tilt toward the canyon of the Guáitara river. The land is at about 2,900 metres and above, so mornings begin with frost on the grass and a hard blue sky.
Read the complete San Pedro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
San Pedro comes up 18 km in. Next is Chitarran.
3. Chitarrán
In the high Andes of southern Colombia, near the border with Ecuador, the Inca road network reached its northern limit. The Qhapaq Ñan, as the system is called, stretched from here to central Chile, and a few segments in the department of Nariño are part of the UNESCO listing of 2014. Chitarrán is one of these, a stretch of old road near the villages of Córdoba, Contadero and Iles, in a landscape of green hills, ravines and patchwork fields at altitudes of over two thousand metres.
Read the complete Chitarran write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
37 km in you reach Chitarran. Next is back through San Pedro.
4. back through San Pedro
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete San Pedro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through San Pedro, late in the day. Next is Segment Rumichaca.
5. Segment Rumichaca
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Rumichaca write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Segment Rumichaca. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Segment Rumichaca to San Pedro
Segment Rumichaca → San Pedro is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
San Pedro to Chitarran
San Pedro → Chitarran is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chitarrán to back through San Pedro
Chitarrán → back through San Pedro is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through San Pedro to Segment Rumichaca
back through San Pedro → Segment Rumichaca is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Segment Pulcas - Troya A and Chitarran · 137 km
- San Pedro and La Cofradía · 92 km