Ecuador MTB Holiday in the Land of Giants – 8 days
Join us in Ecuador for 8-days of endless mountain biking on this Ecuador Mountain Bike Holiday of a lifetime.
Are you an adventurer that has the desire to feel like you are in the land of giants? Mountain biking down volcanic lahars at 14,000 vertical feet, bounding into lush tropical descents that seem to go on forever? Have you always wanted to immerse yourself into a new and exciting culture from the saddle of your mountain Bike? Then this Ecuador Mountain Bike holiday is for you!
This 8-day Ecuador mountain bike holiday will focus on incredible descents through a huge range of mountain bike trail diversity combined with a cultural immersion that will allow guests to discover the culture of the Andes. On this mountain bike trip, you’ll encounter rock gardens, steeper sections, flowy sections, freeriding, drops, jumps, and almost any kind of obstacle you can imagine, and is perfect fit for intermediate to expert riders. If you are looking for a longer trip that crosses the country of Ecuador check out our 12 day Ecuador MTB Adventure.
So if you drool over big enduro rides through exotic and new terrain, you’re ready to come take on a Haku Ecuador Mountain Bike holiday!
Day by Day
Day 1: Welcome to Quito! Your Ecuadorian mountain biking vacation will begin as we pick you up at the airport and help you with your gear and mountain bike. Quito is located at 2840 m/ 9350 ft above sea level. We will take it easy today and have an orientation meeting in the evening.
Included: Airport pickup, lodging in hotel or Airbnb style accommodations
Not Included: Meals
Day 2: Today we will have an acclimatizing ride in the Parque Metropoliano, a cool little park in Quito city. You will ride directly from the hotel with your local mtb guide to enjoy the park trails. After lunch you will be free to explore Quito or you can go for a few laps on the telerferico, a gondola that takes you up and over Quito. This is a gnarly DH ride that can be really fun for those that enjoy downhill laps and uphills by cable car!
Your guide will take your bike bags and transfer them to our final destination in Cuenca.
In the evening stay in Quito.
Included: Local MTB guide, breakfast, lunch, shared hotel room
Not included: Dinner, shuttle car
Day 3: Cotopaxi Bike Park: Today, after breakfast, we will begin our journey and head south of Quito where we will visit the Cotopaxi bike park. This gigantic park, located through a scenic drive in the middle of a pine forest, has tons of trails for all levels. You will have the chance to do as many laps as you want and try out some different lines and sample some of Ecuador’s dirt.
This bike park has delicious food! We will have lunch there and ride some more!
Day 3: Santa Rita Bike Park
Depending on the time of year and the size of the group we may hit the Santa Rita Bike park instead and add on a bonus day of riding on day 7 at the Coto Bike Park.
Included: Transport, guide, entrance into bike park, hotel, breakfast, lunch.
Not included: Dinner
Cotopaxi volcano.
After a well-deserved rest and a delicious Andean breakfast, our transport will take us very close to the refuge at the skirt of snow near the Cotopaxi volcano. Here we will embark on an epic adventure of 2000m/6561 ft of descent. Our shuttle vehicle will be waiting for us after each ride. Today will give us some of our first freeride lines in deep steep scree. Let go of that front brake!
Once we have finished for the day we will head out on a 2-3 hour drive to Baños where we will sleep for the night.
Included: Transport, guide, lodging, breakfast, lunch.
Not included: Dinner
After three-days of riding we will take a much-needed day off to relax our muscles and calm ourselves in the therapeutic, hot waters of Baños. We will also be gaining lots of red blood cells for tomorrow’s big ride at the Chimborazo volcano!
Today please take the time to do maintenance on your bike, wash laundry and sleep in.
If everyone is up for it we will take you to a special place for a small hike to some incredible waterfalls.
If you would like to do a bit of biking on this rest day, we can help you locate a truck-taxi to take you up to a nearby trail through a forest. This day will be unguided.
Additional options are visiting a famous treehouse with an enormous swing which swings out while overlooking a volcano!
Included: Lodging, breakfast
Not included: Dinner, lunch
Day 6: We will leave early today and head to Bolivar.
As we drive though Ambato you may get to see the mightly Tungurahua volcano. The views of this volcano are absolutely stunning!
Today we will do our highest and most iconic trail on our Ecuador mountain bike adventure, the Chimborazo mountain. The Chimborazo mountain is the closest point to the sun from the earth’s core – worldwide!!! (Don’t forget your sunscreen!)
Our drive will take us to the Chimborazo volcano and having us start at over 4270m/ 14,000 ft. This unique trail is more than 20 kilometers long with a massive descent of 1550 m/5000 ft to the Cochas valley in Guaranda. While we do a serious amount of descent we will also be climbing while at high elevation. Those red blood cells from yesterday will come in handy today!
Chimborazo happens to be the majestic mountain seen on the coat of arms of Ecuador.
We will end the night in Bolivar at a gorgeous, rustic farmhouse. These guys are part of the local biking community! With extra luxuries like a pizza oven and fresh milk you will wish this was home.
Not included: Dinner
Day 7: Today we will need to decide which route to ride. Our decision is generally based on weather, season and trail closures.
Mama Rumi and Contrabando (a fairly new trail) will take you first through the clouds on a beautiful shuttle ride to a starting point that looks out above the jungle. Either of these two trails will take us on a long descent through the cloud forest for some real jungle riding and down into the heat of the valley floor. Because these trails are in the cloud forest they are often closed during the rainy season or until they have been maintained. Season and trail closures will decide if we can ride either of these two trails.
The Mama Rumi trail is 2000 m/6500 ft of descent over 12 km/ 7.5 mi
The Contrabando trail is 2100m/ 7000 ft of descent over 13 km/ 8 mi
La Caseria is a super fun ride beginning at the Chimborazo volcano. It starts with a traverse over the wild land of the volcano with views of vicuñas and sometimes a fox or two. We will begin to freeride on the sandy dunes that then take us to a super fluid and fast MTB trail though the Ecuadorian Andes.
La Caseria Trail Stats: 1000 m/ 3300 ft of downhill over 9.6 km/ 6 miles
We can ride this one twice!
Included: Transport, guide, lodging, breakfast and lunch
Not included: Dinner
Day 8: Today you will return to Quito for your departure.
You should say goodbye to your local MTB guide and prepare for the drive to Quito.
We recommend a late flight after 6 pm so that you have time to pack up your bike and get to the airport. You can also choose to fly out tomorrow. Let us know so we can help you book a hotel for the night!
NOTE: For those adding on the Galapagos with a time restraint, today can be a flight to the Galapagos. Day 6 would be Chimborazo and day 7 would be Cotopaxi Bike Park and return to Quito.
Included: Breakfast, transport to Quito where you will pack your bag and then to the airport.
Not Included: Lunch, hotel, guide
General Information
What’s included in your 8 day MTB vacation in Ecuador
Not Included:
Ecuador’s currency is the American dollar but is still very economical — a beer costs about $1. It is mainly a cash-based society so it is recommended that you bring cash in smaller bills such as 20s and 10’s since change can be hard to come by.
ATMs are abundant in most towns and are secure to use, but they usually also have surcharges depending on the bank. Most credit cards can be used in large cities and large stores.
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!
Due to high elevation, the weather in Ecuador is very fickle and hard to predict. Most trips will see rain, sun, heat, and wind; therefore, we suggest that people bring clothes for cold and warm weather. Most ride days will start at colder, windy mountain tops and end in warmer, more humid areas. Riders should always carry a rain jacket and a warm layer.
For this Ecuador 8-day mtb trip you will want to fly in and out of Quito.
We recommend that our guests use trusted airlines (Delta, AirCanada, ect) and do not use an economy airliner due to the fact that you will be traveling with very important and expensive gear. American Airlines, Delta, and United charge $100-150 usd to check a bike, and many other trusted airlines have similar prices as well.
Ecuador separates itself from other mountain biking destinations by offering riders with an endless amount of trail diversity within a very small geographical area. In fact, it’s the only place in the world where you can pass through 14 ecosystems in one ride! The trails are raw, long, scenic, flowy, and technical. Clients will mountain bike on active volcanoes and through sub-tropical jungles which were once the agricultural centers of the pre-Incan civilizations. Some trails even go through places where the local people graze their llamas in the same way their ancestors did over 2,000 years ago. The trails will transport you back in time as you and your friends ride through the history and meet the local people.
You will encounter obstacles that can be found on most black and double black trails, such as steeper sections, rock gardens, natural jumps, drops, and roots. Most of the trails are intermediate to advanced with sections that are easily walkable if the rider does not feel comfortable.
Reviews
My Girlfriend and I took a 10 day bike trip to Ecuador with Nicole and Bill from Haku Adventures in November of 2021. This was a trip of a lifetime! Our group was a total of 6 with 3+ professional guides every day. Trip catered to the rider types in our group and was very well organized. We stayed in some very unique farm houses and hostels throughout the trip. Over the 10 days, we got a lift day in Quito, 2 bike park days at Santa Rita and Cotopaxi, 2 long volcano rides on Cotopaxi and Chimborozo and some of the best downhills in Ecuador. I wouldn’t hesitate to take another trip with Nicole and Bill and am already trying to figure out how I can get more time off work and get down to visit them in Peru. If you are looking for a professional put together bike trip with super fun descending and super good times, I would recommend Haku!
Our 8-day Ecuador Mountain Bike Holiday has a focus on enduro and downhill trails. We mainly conduct shuttle rides that have up to 7,500 ft of vertical descent and up to1,500 ft of uphill.
Mountain bike trails in Ecuador are raw, long, scenic, flowy, and technical. You will ride on active volcanoes and into sub-tropical jungles which were once agricultural centers of the pre-Incan civilizations. You will descend on footpaths that are still used by local peoples, grazing their llamas the same way their ancestors did over 2,000 years ago.
Our 8-Day Ecuador Mountain Bike Holiday is ideal for you if:
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"So glad we found Bill and Nicole, this was by far one of the coolest and most fun DH rides we have done so far, Close second is heli biking in Canada.
Everything was as described, Great shuttle transportation had ample room for people and gear, fresh water on board.