Why this ride
A named mountain-road corridor with sustained elevation change and pass scenery. It links naturally to Historic Centre of Santa Ana de los Rios de Cuenca and Cajas.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cuenca to Cajas
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 35 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 40 min
- 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.
Editorial context
Coordinates are curated start-via-end route seeds. They are not a surveyed centreline or navigation geometry. Run road snapping, topology checks, access checks and a live-status review before publication.
Access context
Do not auto-publish. Snap to a routable road network, verify current closures, legal motorcycle access, surface, permits, border controls and local safety information.
Seasonal context
Jun-Sep
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cuenca Ecuador
Cuenca is a city of domes, rivers and hats, and it gets under your skin. Its full name, Santa Ana de los Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca, refers to the four rivers that run through the broad valley at 2,550 metres, and the historic centre, founded in 1557 by the Spanish on the ruins of the Inca city of Tomebamba, is listed by UNESCO. The cathedral's blue and white domes rise over the main square, and streets of red-tiled houses with wrought-iron balconies run down to the Tomebamba river and its grassy banks.
Read the complete Cuenca Ecuador write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cuenca Ecuador sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Cajas.
2. Cajas gate
Cajas looks like a place that nobody finished. The national park, west of Cuenca, is a high tableland of rock, bog and water, scattered with more than two hundred lakes left behind by glaciers, and the land sits mostly above 3,500 metres. Tussock grass and cushion plants cover the slopes, and in sheltered folds you find small woods of polylepis, the paper-bark trees that grow higher than any other tree on Earth, their twisted trunks peeling in red flakes.
Read the complete Cajas gate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cajas comes up 35 km in.