Colombia MTB Adventure
Explore Salento and Manizales while taking in scenery from one of the most ecologically diverse countries on the planet.
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Haku’s 9-day Colombia MTB holiday has been crafted for mountain bikers and adventurers looking to step off the beaten path. Our Colombia MTB vacation based in Salento and Manizales, expect world-class mountain biking, breathtaking natural beauty, and unforgettable cultural experience in the most diverse country in the world. Colombia is famous for its vibrant culture, world-class coffee, and wonderful, passionate people. Combine all this beauty with it’s thriving mountain biking scene, and, with Haku Expeditions you’ll be able to experience a one-of-a-kind MTB holiday curated by and for avid mountain bikers.
Ride Description: On this unforgettable experience you can expect to ride through lush cloud forest, coffee farms and past artisanal panela factories. A perfect mix of elevation gain and descent with steeps, jungly switchbacks and the always sought after brown pow are all part of your Colombian mountain bike experience! We will also spend one epic day on the Enduro World Series circuit of Manizales.
Day by Day
We begin by flying into Pereira and then transferring to Salento, Colombia. Salento’s altitude is a manageable 1895 m/6217 ft, and it’s an unbelievably picturesque town with coffee estates, verdant countryside, and brightly painted, colorful buildings. It’s a perfect place to settle into Colombian life and prepare for your Colombia MTB holiday. If you’re feeling especially ambitious, you can take a quick hike in the Cocora Valley before dinner to check out the dreamlike, verdant landscape and the tallest wax palm trees in the world (literally). If you don’t have the time or the energy for that, though, you can get a bird’s-eye view of the town by hiking up to Salento’s mirador, a viewpoint won after an easy climb up the stairs at the end of Calle Real. From there, you can see out over the entire valley. Make sure you get back and get some rest, though — we’ll hit the trails hard on the first day!
Lodging: Cairo Hotel
Today is your introduction to mountain biking in Colombia! We’ll be taking you to three different places — two trails and one bike park. This will give you a taster of the diversity of Colombia’s MTB scene, from rugged backcountry singletrack to sweet jump lines in bike parks.
After meeting with your guide in the morning, you’ll load up the bikes and equipment in the support vehicle to head to one of the highest-rated tracks in Colombia, Alegrias. Heading out of town we’ll wind up dirt roads to its starting point. This classic 8 km track flows through beautiful pine forest and stunning countryside landscapes. After that, we’ll head to El Ocho, an ancient, quick-moving, techy trail across the ancient National path boasting berms, rock faces, and rock gardens. This trail deposits you right back in town. Then, after a round of high-fives and waters, we’ll head over to El Cairo Bike Park, Salento’s new bike park that has 3 different trails, jumps, and many other features.
After an action-packed day behind the handlebars, you’ll relax at the Cairo Hotel, a beautiful historic house in Valle Cocora, where you can sip a cold beer and stretch your legs around its beautiful grounds.
Colombia MTB Holiday Trail Stats:
Alegrias
Distance: 8.5 km/5.06 mi
Max Elevation: 2727 m/8948 ft
Ascent: 98.7 m/323 ft
Elevation Descent: 838 m/2749 ft
El Ocho
Distance: 3.26 km/2.03 mi
Max elevation: 2491m/8174 ft
Ascent: 70 m/232 ft
Elevation descent: 389m/1276 ft
El Cairo Bike Park:
TBD
Meals Included: B, L, Snacks
Lodging: Cairo hotel
After a solid rest and a filling, Colombian-style breakfast, we’ll take off on a beautiful drive through the heart of Colombia’s coffee growing region. Colombia produces a whopping 11.5 million bags of beans per year, the second highest in the world behind Brazil. In 2011, UNESCO declared the “Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia” a World Heritage Site. The paved route through these breathtaking coffee fields will lead us to Manizales, the home and training grounds of one of the top DH riders in the world, Marcelo Gutierrez.
Manizales, a bustling city of 400,000 inhabitants, is surrounded by steep mountains, so you can imagine how epic the mountain biking will be. We’ll hit the trails right when we get there: we start with Infernal, a DH-style track with some drops, jumps, and wallride opportunities. Then, you’ll hit El Gordo, another breathtaking 3 km/2 mile DH track. We will ride these trails twice and if possible throw in El Colibri as well!
The lodging tonight is quintessentially Colombian — you’ll be staying in a finca, or a country estate on the outskirts of the town. Take some time while you’re there to learn about the rich history of fincas in Spanish culture. You’ll feel transported back in time!
Colombia MTB Holiday Trail Stats:
Infernal
Distance: 3.19 km/2 mi
Max elevation: 1601 m/5255 ft
Ascent: 309 m/1014 ft
Elevation descent: 520 m/1706 ft
El Gordo
Distance: 3.28 km/2.4 mi
Max elevation: 1606 m/5270 ft
Ascent: 302 m/991 ft
Elevation descent: 450 m/1476 ft
El Colibri
Distance: 3.17 km/2 mi
Max elevation: 1922 m/6307 ft
Ascent: 181.5 m/596 ft
Elevation descent: 540 m/1771 ft
Meals included: B, L, Snacks
Lodging: Finca in Manizales
Today’s the day to bring your A-game — you’ll shred a legendary, ancient singletrack path starting at almost 4,000 m/13,123 ft called La Elvira. You’ll descend 1,581 m/5,187 ft through thick, deep cloud forest. We’ll be riding down trail with overhead jungle coverage, slick rocks, and steep gradients.The trail finishes off in the best zone of the city to fill up on cold beers and hearty Colombian food!
Colombia MTB Holiday Trail Stats:
Elvira trail into Manizales
Distance: 19.71 km/ 12.25 mi
Max elevation: 3772 m/ 12,376 ft
Ascent: 323 m/1060 ft
Elevation descent: 1640 m/5380 ft
Meals included: B, L, Snacks
Lodging: Finca in Manizales
There’s a cable car just a short walk from your lodging that crosses the valley to the center of Manizales. The city has tons to offer, including the beautiful, massive Manizales Cathedral whose towers you can climb for a view of the city and the iconic Monument to the Colonists, a stirring bronze tribute to the first settlers of the region. While in the city, make sure you try one of the arepas or a pandebonos that you’ll smell as you walk down the street. Of course, if you’re looking merely to rest your legs after three days in a row of intense mountain biking, no one would fault you for lounging on the grounds of your gorgeous finca.
Meals included: B
Lodging: Finca in Manizales
Wishing for a long, sustained enduro adventure? Today’s all-day ride starts at 3690 m/12,100 ft in Nevados National Park. Today will be an adventure. This ride takes us into the wilds of Colombia. We will be far from any villages or people and really have to have full energy to sustain the day. We will carry with us a full lunch as the pedal time alone is 4 hours not including stops and breaks.
This trail has lots of climbing and descending. Included in today’s ride is the famous Subida al Cielo, which is a 370 m/1200 ft steep climb over 1.4 km/.85 mi.
The trail ends at a unique molasses farm known as panela chancaca.
Colombia MTB Holiday Trail Stats:
Distance: 33.62 km/ 21 mi
Max elevation: 3749 m/12301 ft
Ascent: 2132 m/6997 ft
Elevation descent: 2401m/7877 ft
Meals included: B, L, snacks
Lodging: Finca in Manizales
Steep and technical La Densa is a classic, short DH track that takes you around the city. Right after bagging La Densa, you’ll hit the Panamericano trail, which is more enduro-style and boasts the famous 4 bridges used at the Enduro World Series in 2018. Steep descents will certainly get your blood pumping on this one. After that, we’ll finish off the day with Morenita, a fast-moving canal offering high berms and jumps, and then head back to Manizales.
Colombia MTB Holiday Trail Stats:
Densa
Distance: 7.84 km/ 4.8 mi
Max Elevation: 2334 m/7657 ft
Ascent: 506 m/1660 ft
Descent: 373 m/1223 ft
Panamericano
Distance: 1.70 km/5577 ft
Max Elevation: 2341 m/1454 mi
Ascent: Almost none
Descent: 228 m/748 ft
Morenita
Distance: 2.11 km/1.31 miles
Max Elevation: 2252 m/7390 ft.
Ascent: Almost none
Descent: 280 m/920 ft
Meals included: B, L, snacks
Lodging: Finca in Manizales
The trails today will be perfect final rides in Colombia. We can choose to either ride a trail or two that we really loved during the week or we can ride some new trails like Garrucha and Chulo.
Colombia MTB trail stats:
To be determined!
Meals included: B, L, Snacks, and Farewell Dinner
Lodging: Finca in Manizales
Until next time! You’ll be taken to the airport by our team where you’ll say your tearful goodbyes. (Pro tip: make sure you stretch before you get on the plane!)
General Information
What’s the price of this 9-day Colombia MTB holiday? And what’s included?
$1995 USD per person. There must be three people for this trip to go out. If by chance we only have two people booked each person can pay a $200 USD supplement for the trip to run.
Included
Not included
Colombia’s currency is the COP Colombian Peso. You’ll be able to exchange US currency for the pesos on arrival at the airport. The exchange rate often fluctuates but at the moment (March 2020) is 1 USD to 3.3 – 3.34
We recommend you bring cash along with credit cards. Credit cards are accepted in many places in Colombia. However, tips and cash for small stores or transports is necessary.
TIPPING: In Colombia tipping is not obligatory but is very common. The restaurants will ask if you would like the “service” included in the bill. The service is 10%. Generally you should say yes unless you had a terrible service.
Tipping your guide in Colombia is generally 5-10% of the price you paid for the tour.
Each person is required to have a specific travel/trip insurance outside of your credit card or regular medical insurance.
You should get comprehensive coverage with trip interruption/cancellation and with personal liability. Mention all activities that you will be involved in such as mountain biking, hiking at high altitude and whatever other activities you may have planned.
We do not provide refunds. If you should get hurt or sick not only will travel insurance cover your medical expenses it will also cover the lost portion of the trip. Make sure you have trip interruption or trip cancellation included! South America is famous for people striking and shutting down all activities. If you miss your Machu Picchu trip, Galapagos or any other side trip, or even your flight due to strikes the insurance will cover the loss or additional costs that are incurred.
Check out our blog on travel insurance and why it is a must for any South America Vacation!
This Colombia MTB holiday takes place in Salento and Manizales. The airport at Manizales is very small and flights are often canceled or delayed. We suggest you fly into Pereira where we’ll pick you up and bring you to Salento for the beginning of your MTB vacation. For the return home, we’ll take you back to the airport at Pereira for your flight out.
Before booking flights look into how much baggage you are allowed and how much an oversized bag will cost you. All bicycles are oversized. The price ranges so check this before booking the flight.
Check if you need a visa for any of the countries you may pass though such as China. Some countries require it even when passing though, others will allow you to stay in the airport in a special area without leaving. Be sure of your layover countries visa requirements.
When you arrive in Colombia, you’ll need to fill out a declaration form for customs. It says that personal items may be brought into the country without a tax. It then states that if you have items that are valued more than $1500 you will need to pay a tax. We have researched this topic quite a bit and get many different responses; therefore, we can’t tell you firmly if they’ll charge you or not. Usually, it’s 15% on your bike if you claim the value is more than $1500.
Important: Generally, anytime you land in another country, even just for layovers, you need to get your luggage and rescan it or re-check it for security purposes. Every country is different so check once you arrive; don’t count on the front desk person who checked you in at your first airport. Make sure you have enough time during your layover for migrations and the bag check.
We include airport pick up and drop off with your mountain bike from Pereira airport on days 1 and 9 of this itinerary.
A driver will be waiting at the Pereira airport for you with a sign with your name.
Upon departure you may be required to pay an exit tax. This tax is often charged in cash so please be ready with $20-60 cash on hand for the tax. Some airlines include this in their price and some do not.
We recommend you bring a full suspension All-Mountain, Trail or Enduro bike.
These days the trail bikes have become more like Enduro bikes and the Enduro bikes have become more like Downhill bikes. Therefore, what we recommend is, a full suspension mountain bike with 140mm or more of suspension front and rear. We also recommend that you have a tubeless tire setup. We also recommend tires like Maxxis Minion, Highroller or Assegai.
For the bike:
Our Mountain bike tours include breakfast from your hotel or finca and lunch on ride days.
Our MTB rides include lunches at local restaurants and also in the homes of locals who live on the trail. Most meals are a large bowl of soup followed by a main meal. The main meals are generally meat or chicken with rice, beans and plantain. In the case that you do not eat meat you can get a plate that has rice, eggs and fried plantain.
If you have dietary restrictions please let us know so we can help you plan for the trip accordingly.
We provide snacks for the ride days. Feel free to bring extra energy bars for the trail if you think you may want snacks you know you already enjoy!
We provide water for the rides. You will need a bottle or camepack to fill.
For this 9-day Colombia MTB Holiday Adventure:
You should have a mountain biking skill level of intermediate tech: You’ve got three plus years of riding on singletrack trails of all sorts with features such as rock gardens, steep sections, rolls and drops, roots, and small jumps. You are confident on the bike in most situations. You’re constantly looking to improve your riding skills and enjoy riding for extended periods of time climbing and descending in terrain of all sorts.
Your fitness level should be at least a 3.5: You will want to be in between these two levels
3 You exercise one to two times a week but do not have a normal schedule that keeps you biking or doing other activities weekly. You don’t go to the gym or train for any specific sports but you lead a relatively active lifestyle by biking, hiking, skiing, or whatever it may be. For biking: climbs and long descents give you some trouble and you tend to get tired after about 2-3 hours on the bike.
4 You exercise 3-4 times a week and enjoy physical activities such as biking, hiking, skiing. You are active. For biking: you enjoy climbs that are moderately long and being on a bike for 3-5 hours in one day doesn’t get you too tired or fatigued.
Reviews
Awersome riding and with Awesone people in Awesome places
I've ridden with this company on several different trips down to S. America, most recently in Ecuador and later Peru. Each time they find a way of making it better and better! The execution of admin, details, bookings, lodging, meals, etc. is all pre-sorted. All you have to do is show up and shred.
Bill and Nic are absolutely wonderful owners and operators, yet they employ local riders and restaurants at every stage of the trip. Can't recommend them highly enough. Stoked to get down there again!
Oh, and the riding is some of the best I've down anywhere in the world.
You will not regret a moment of booking a mtn. bike vacation with them.
Live fully to it's fullest and keep shreddin'!:)
This 9-day Colombia MTB holiday is crafted for avid mountain bikers that consider themselves intermediate to advanced-level riders. On this MTB tour, you can expect enduro and downhill-style riding with challenging climbs and steep descents.
Part of making sure that your mountain bike vacation is perfect will mean honestly assessing your own ability level. The MTB trails we will take you down in Colombia will often be intermediate to advanced-level trails. If you’re a rider that can handle the challenges that come with those kinds of rides — someone who often practices DH, enduro, or XC-style riding — then we’re sure you’ll love our Colombian MTB tour. If you’re newer to mountain biking, contact us so we can suggest another route.
Our 9-day Colombia MTB holiday is ideal for you if:
Giving back
Haku Expeditions donates 1% of all profits to support local education programs.
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What’s the price of this 9-day Colombia MTB holiday? And what’s included?
$1995 USD per person. There must be three people for this trip to go out. If by chance we only have two people booked each person can pay a $200 USD supplement for the trip to run.
Included
Not included
Our Cross Country MTB tours take you from one spectacular destination to the next. On these, you’ll cycle literally across whichever country you’re visiting. For instance, check out our Andes to the Amazon tour, where you travel from Cusco to the Peruvian Amazon.
Our current XC vacations are made up of long-distance rides on backcountry roads. If you are looking for XC singletrack, get in touch with us, and we’ll set up a one-of-a-kind MTB tour suited to your needs.
How we define XC: Anywhere from old logging or fire roads to rolling singletrack, Cross Country trails are generally long distances with both ascents and descents. While trails may be somewhat technical with rock gardens and tight switchbacks, they generally do not have intense steep rock gardens like those you might find in DH or Enduro racing.
An XC bike is often lighter with a slacker head tube angle for better climbing ability and tends to not have a dropper post although the trend is changing. Usually it will be a hardtail or a full suspension bike with a smaller amount of suspension — 100-130mm.
Most XC riders do not wear pads such as elbow or knee pads and wear a half-shell helmet.
Our MTB expeditions are multi-day trips that involve camping, hiking and/or local home stays in the mountains with cooks and porters. At the moment Haku Expeditions offers one complete mountain expedition and also two packages that combine an MTB vacation with a smaller expedition nestled in it.
The front travel for DH bikes is usually somewhere around 200mm with the rear measuring slightly less. Because they generally aren’t pedalled uphill, these bikes are rugged and heavy and usually have less gears. DH riders wear full-face helmets, goggles, and body armor.
At the moment we do not offer a 100% DH trip. Contact us and we can make a custom trip for you! Below, you’ll find our Enduro MTB tours listed that are mostly all downhill and can be done either with a DH bike or an Enduro bike.
How we define DH: DH riding – or Downhill riding — is regarded as an intense, extreme kind of cycling, made for advanced riders who love to navigate roots and rocks and huge drops with furious downhill speed. It requires a stellar sense of balance and technique and a bike with slacker geometry.
The front travel for DH bikes is usually somewhere around 200mm with the rear measuring slightly less. Because they generally aren’t pedalled uphill, these bikes are rugged and heavy and usually have less gears. DH riders wear full-face helmets, goggles, and body armor.
Our Enduro/All-Mountain MTB tours are by far our most popular trips to date. While some of them focus more on descent like Ecuador and Peru, others include plenty of pedaling such as those in Colombia and Nepal.
How we define Enduro/All Mountain: Enduro mountain biking, also known as All-Mountain biking, emphasizes technical ability. If you’re looking for a more adventurous ride, this is the kind of ride for you; usually, an Enduro/All-Mountain trail will involve adrenaline-pumping downhill mountain biking along with sustained climbs.
Enduro riders need bikes that can take burly drops and rugged technical obstacles efficiently while still being light enough to climb with; they almost always use full-suspension bikes with wide tires and longer rear and front suspension travel. Dropper post is a necessity and standard. The front suspension can be anywhere from 140mm to 170mm. Full-face enduro helmets and body amour are a must for Enduro racing.
1 – The Haku Christmas Drive, which includes yearly clothing giveaways, shoe drives, and a public hot chocolate panettone lunch.
2 – School supply giveaway for children of the High Andes.
3 – Bringing bread and fruit to kids living at elevations where none is available.
4 – Facilitating connections between local organic farmers and local restaurants.
5 – Affordable MTB classes for locals taught by professional coaches.
6 – Sustained commitment to hiring out locals to work as drivers, office workers, etc., allowing a great amount of flexibility for family commitments, and paying them fair, livable wages.
7 – Donating 1% of all profits to help educate children in a technical field such as carpentry.
8 – Helping young adults begin a small business working in their technical field or purchasing products from them to help them get started after high school.
1 – Getting your heart rate up isn’t really your thing, and you rarely (if ever) exercise. Your idea of a perfect vacation is total relaxation: sitting on a beach, sipping a mojito, and just generally vegging out.
2 – You don’t necessarily work out regularly but you aren’t averse to the idea of doing something active. Although you don’t exercise that often, you don’t necessarily consider yourself out of shape.
3 – You exercise one to two times a week but do not have a normal schedule that keeps you biking or doing other activities weekly. You don’t go to the gym or train for any specific sports but you lead a relatively active lifestyle by biking, hiking, skiing, or whatever it may be. For biking: climbs and long descents give you some trouble and you tend to get tired after about 2-3 hours on the bike.
4 – You exercise 3-4 times a week and enjoy physical activities such as biking, hiking, skiing. You are active. For biking: you enjoy climbs that are are moderately long and being on a bike for 3-5 hours in one day doesn’t get you too tired or fatigued.
5 – You exercise at least 4 times a week and are an avid athlete that is consistently in good shape. You’re more or less game for any kind of adventure. For biking: you’re comfortable with being on your bike for 5-7 hours a day.
6 – You live and die for exercise, sweat, and suffering. You only want to climb higher, go farther, and prove how much of an animal you are. Steep climbs, long descents and big days are something you are looking to do more of and you can’t wait for your next adventure.
Beginner:
You’ve been riding a mountain bike for a couple of years or less and you’re most comfortable on smooth single-track and wider, forgiving doubletrack. You like rides with scenic views; you like both ascending and descending on well-maintained, safe trails. You’re looking for an active but relaxing mountain bike vacation; you’re not into jumps, drops, super steep trails, rock gardens, roots or taking big risks on your bike.
Intermediate:
You’ve got two plus years of experience mountain biking on single-track trails under your belt; you’ve gotten pretty confident behind the handlebars and are beginning to expand your mountain bike abilities. You like riding most types of terrain, and you’re comfortable both climbing and descending on single-track trails with smaller technical features such as rocky sections, small drops, and small steep sections. You aren’t trying to walk on most of the trail and are looking to take small risks with things like speed, jumps, rock gardens, and stair sets to improve your skills as a mountain biker.
Intermediate Tech:
You’ve got three plus years of riding on singletrack trails of all sorts with features such as rock gardens, steep sections, rolls and drops, roots, and small jumps. You are confident on the bike in most situations. You’re constantly looking to improve your riding skills and enjoy riding for extended periods of time climbing and descending in terrain of all sorts.
Advanced:
Ten plus years of experience riding single-track, freerides and biking of all sorts. You live for steeps, jumps, rock gardens, techy trails, long descents, big ascents and discovering new terrain. Mountain biking is one of your passions and you are ready and confident to do what you love in a new and challenging place. You can handle anything we throw at you — jumps, rock gardens, steps, technical descents, tough ascents, etc. Biking is a central part of your life. For you, the bigger the challenge, the more excited you get.
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JUST AMAZING!!!! If you are advance rider… this is the place to book with! Nicole took care of us for the full 7days and 4 days of mountain biking. Great bikes in great condition. We also had a mecano riding with us just in case something happens with the bikes. All details have been taking care of… great lunches, snacks, always on time, taxi, super comfortable hotels.
Remember…. Intermediate Advance only…
This is the real deal!
Loved it!!