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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Zone F and Zone D

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
263 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 55
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

A 263 km round trip from Santuario - roughly 5 h 55 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cultural Landscape of Colombia, Zone D and back through Cultural Landscape of Colombia. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.

Scenic road chapters

Colombia Coffee Triangle Loop

Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 63 km this is Colombia Coffee Triangle Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.

Chapter facts
Length
63 km
Named road
Colombia Coffee Triangle Loop

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Zone F

    Zone F is one of the patches of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, a World Heritage site spread across the steep green slopes of the Central and Western Cordilleras. This part lies in western Risaralda, around the towns of Santuario, Apía and La Celia, on hillsides so steep that you wonder how anyone stands upright to pick the beans. The answer is that people have been doing it for well over a century, by hand, on slopes where no machine could follow.

    Read the complete Zone F write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Zone F is where the day begins. Next is Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia.

  2. 2. Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia

    The hills around Marsella, in Risaralda, are steep enough that you wonder how anyone harvests coffee on them at all, and the answer is by hand, bean by bean, on slopes where the pickers lean into the hillside. This is the heart of Colombia's coffee region, the Eje Cafetero, and the cultural landscape of coffee growing here was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2011. The listing covers farms, towns and the traditions of a culture built around a crop that has shaped the country's history and identity.

    Read the complete Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Zone D.

  3. 3. Zone D

    Armenia, Colombia, is not the best-known part of the country, but the hills around it are the heart of the Eje Cafetero, the coffee axis. The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site made up of several zones, and Zone D lies in Quindío, in the high green country close to Armenia, Circasia and Montenegro. This is where the coffee farms cling to steep slopes, shaded by plantain and tall guadua bamboo, and the farmhouses are painted in bright colours with carved balconies.

    Read the complete Zone D write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 132 km into the recorded legs you reach Zone D. Next is back through Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia.

  4. 4. back through Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, late in the day. Next is Zone F.

  5. 5. Zone F

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Zone F write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Back at Zone F. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Zone F to Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia

Zone F → Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia to Zone D

Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia → Zone D is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Zone D to back through Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia

Zone D → back through Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia to Zone F

back through Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia → Zone F is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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