Destination Guide
Cycling in Avenue of Volcanoes
Avenue of Volcanoes cycling: Cotopaxi at 4,500m, Chimborazo to 5,000m, Riobamba — hometown of Olympic champion Richard Carapaz — and the Ruta de las Cascadas above Baños.
The Avenue of Volcanoes is the reason Ecuador exists in world cycling consciousness. Alexander von Humboldt coined the phrase during his 1802 expedition through the Inter-Andean Valley — the name captures with unusual precision the visual experience of riding south from Quito through the corridor between the two Andean cordilleras, with the volcanic peaks arranged on either horizon in a procession that continues for 300km: Cayambe to the northeast at 5,790m, Antisana to the east at 5,753m, Cotopaxi to the right at 5,897m — the world's highest active volcano — and then Chimborazo rising on the western cordillera at 6,263m, the mountain whose equatorial bulge makes its summit the furthest point from the centre of the earth on the entire planet's surface. Riding this valley is to experience scale on a different order from the Alps or the Pyrenees: the mountains are taller, the sky is bigger, and the approach roads to the volcano foothills deliver riders to elevations that would be the highest roads in Switzerland before the serious climbing even begins.
Last updated: 15 Mar 2026
- Terrain
- Road, Climbing, Gravel
- Difficulty
- Moderate — Expert
- Road Quality
- Mixed
- Cycling Culture
- Developing
- Traffic
- Low
Best Time to Cycle in Avenue of Volcanoes
The Avenue of Volcanoes zone is most reliably clear from June to September. The volcano summits — Cotopaxi and Chimborazo — typically cloud over by 10:00–11:00 even in dry season; departures for the high-altitude refugio climbs must be before 07:00 f...
Temperature: 2°C (winter) to 20°C (summer)
Best Cycling Climbs in Avenue of Volcanoes
Altar Volcano Approach
20km · 1100m · 5.5% · CAT1
The Altar Volcano Approach from the Riobamba side is the most remote and demanding Cat 1 cycling ascent in the Ecuadorian Avenue of Volcanoes corridor — a 20km road into the Sangay National Park gaining 1,100m from 3,050m at the park boundary to the glaciated approach zone at approximately 4,150m on El Altar (Kapak Urku in Kichwa), Ecuador's most technically difficult mountaineering peak and one of the most visually dramatic extinct volcanoes in South America. El Altar's distinctive profile — a collapsed caldera with a horseshoe of spire-like peaks surrounding a glacial lake — is visible from Riobamba on clear mornings and has drawn cyclists to the approach road since it was paved in the 2000s as part of Sangay National Park infrastructure development. The road is not a tourist road in the conventional sense: it serves the farming communities on the park buffer zone and the occasional mountaineering expedition to the Altar crater, which means traffic is extremely light (a dozen vehicles per day at most) and the road surface is maintained at agricultural access rather than tourist standard. This combination of remoteness, altitude, and demanding gradient profile at 3,000-4,150m makes the Altar Approach the most genuinely exploratory cycling objective in central Ecuador. The road begins from the Penipe-Candelaria road junction at approximately 3,050m, in the valley of the Rio Chambo above Riobamba, and climbs east into the Sangay National Park at 4-6% through the park buffer zone agricultural land. The first 6km at 4-5% run through the mixed farming landscape at 3,050-3,350m — potato cultivation, cattle grazing, and the small communities of the park buffer zone that sustain the local economy without formal tourism infrastructure. Above km 6 the road enters the Sangay National Park boundary and the character changes immediately: the farming landscape ends, the gradient firms to 6-7%, and the road enters the cloud forest that covers the Altar lower slopes at 3,350-3,800m. The 8km middle section through the Sangay cloud forest (km 6-14) at 5.5-7% average is the most sustained and atmospheric part of the climb: dense vegetation, constant moisture, the sound of the Rio Puela in the valley below, and the total absence of human habitation. Maximum gradients of 12% appear at km 10-11 on the steepest hairpin section through the cloud forest zone, arriving at approximately 3,700m where the altitude effect is clearly established. Above km 14 at 3,800m the cloud forest gives way to open páramo on the Altar lower slopes, and the final 6km to 4,150m are through high-altitude grassland with progressively better views of the Altar crater peaks above: the Cathedral (the tallest peak at 5,319m), the Bishop, the Nuns, and the other spires of the ancient collapsed crater that give the volcano its ecclesiastical Spanish name. Richard Carapaz's home region of Tulcan (Carchi province) is in northern Ecuador, but the Riobamba training circuit that many Ecuadorian national team cyclists use includes the Altar approach as the most demanding single-day challenge in the central highlands zone.
Chimborazo Refugio Road
28.5km · 1850m · 6.5% · HC
The Chimborazo Refugio Road is the highest regularly cycled road objective in South America — a 28.5km HC ascent from the Riobamba outskirts at 3,150m to the Edward Whymper refugio at 5,000m on the northern flank of Chimborazo (6,263m), the mountain whose equatorial position makes its summit the furthest point from the earth's centre on the planet's surface. The climb averages 6.5% over its full length, a gradient that sounds manageable but operates at altitudes where the available oxygen produces a physiological experience with no direct European equivalent: the final 5km above 4,500m, at 7–12% on the steepest ramps near the refugio, are ridden at altitude where the oxygen partial pressure is approximately 58% of sea-level concentration. Every rider — regardless of fitness level or altitude experience — will slow substantially above 4,500m. The road is paved to approximately 4,800m, transitioning to a compacted volcanic ash track for the final approach to the refugio car park at 5,000m; 32mm minimum tyres are essential, 38mm preferred for the upper section. The gradient profile is most consistent in the first 18km from the Riobamba outskirts through the high páramo zone at 3,150–4,000m, averaging 5.5–6.5% in long sustained sections with occasional brief steeper ramps on road bends. Above 4,000m, the gradient increases and becomes less regular — the road was built for 4WD vehicle access to the refugio rather than for consistent gradient cycling, and the upper 5km has ramps to 12% on the steepest bends. Chimborazo's massive bulk creates its own weather: cloud typically forms from the summit downward from mid-morning, and the refugio is most often clear between 06:00 and 10:00. An 05:30 departure from Riobamba for a pre-dawn lower section and summit arrival by 09:30 is the local guide's standard recommendation.
Cotopaxi Refugio Road
22.3km · 1400m · 6.3% · HC
Cotopaxi Refugio Road climbs 22.3km from the Cotopaxi National Park gate at 3,100m to the José Ribas refugio at 4,500m on the northern flank of the world's highest active volcano — a symmetrical snow-capped cone of such geometric precision that early explorers doubted it was natural. The climb averages 6.3% with a maximum of 11% on the steeper switchbacks in the middle section, and transitions from paved road to compacted volcanic gravel in the upper 6km above the park vehicle parking area. The route from the park gate rises through the distinctive Cotopaxi páramo — high-altitude moorland at 3,100–3,800m populated with the spiky Chuquiragua flower (Ecuador's national flower, the Andean climber's flower that blooms in the highest accessible zones) before breaking onto the open volcanic flanks above 4,000m where the cone of Cotopaxi fills the sky directly ahead. At 4,500m the refugio sits beneath the glacier line; above this point, mountaineering equipment is required. The full cycling ascent from the park gate to the refugio is 22.3km of HC-category effort at an altitude where sea-level fitness benchmarks provide no reliable guidance for effort management. The volcano's active status since the 2015 eruption cycle means that access can be closed at short notice during elevated activity periods; always confirm park access status the evening before a Cotopaxi day.
Illiniza Norte Approach
14km · 900m · 6.4% · CAT1
The Illiniza Norte Approach is one of the high-altitude cycling achievements of the Avenue of Volcanoes corridor — a 14km Cat 1 ascent from the Illiniza saddle road junction at 3,350m to the climbing refuge at approximately 4,250m on the northern of the twin Illiniza volcanoes, gaining 900m at 6.4% average with maximum gradients of 14% on the steepest access ramps to the refugio zone. The Illinizas — two adjacent volcanic peaks, Norte at 5,126m and Sur at 5,248m — stand in the western cordillera of Ecuador southwest of Quito, visible from the Panamericana on clear days as a distinctive twin-summit silhouette rising above the inter-Andean valley. The approach road begins from the main highway junction at Latacunga and climbs west through the agricultural valley to the Illiniza hacienda zone at 3,200m before the final 14km to the refugio. The entire climbing section operates above 3,350m — this is the critical distinction from lower Ecuadorian climbs, as the physiological effects of altitude are fully established from the first pedal stroke. The 6.4% average across 14km at this elevation represents a sustained effort of serious altitude cycling rather than a casual ascent. The lower 5km from 3,350m to 3,700m run through the open paramo of the Illiniza lower slopes at 5-7%, the road passing through the ecological buffer zone with views east toward Cotopaxi (which is visible on clear mornings as an extraordinary symmetrical cone 40km away) and southeast toward Chimborazo on exceptionally clear days. The gradient firms at km 5-6 to 7-8% on the approach to the refugio access zone, with maximum gradients of 14% on two short hairpin ramps at km 9-10 that at 3,900m altitude produce intense cardiovascular stress in the underacclimatised rider. Above km 10 the road enters the volcanic rock zone above the vegetation line: the road surface becomes rougher, the gradient moderates to 5-7%, and the landscape is defined by volcanic grey stone and the persistent equatorial cloud that clings to the upper Illiniza slopes. The refugio at 4,250m is the cycling objective — the true summit at 5,126m (Norte) requires mountaineering equipment and is a separate expedition. At 4,250m, the altitude effect on cycling performance is unambiguous: even riders well-acclimatised to Quito's 2,850m will find threshold effort produces 20-25 bpm lower heart rate than sea-level values.
Ruta de las Cascadas Climb (Baños Approach)
18km · 850m · 4.7% · CAT1
The Ruta de las Cascadas (Cascade Route) is Ecuador's most celebrated cycling descent — a 61km road running east from Baños at 1,820m to Puyo in the Amazon lowlands at 924m, passing five major waterfalls including the Pailón del Diablo (the country's most powerful waterfall by volume), with an almost continuous gentle descent of 3.9% average that makes it accessible to recreational cyclists and beloved by the rental-bike operators who dominate the Baños end of the route. This climb document covers the reverse approach: the 18km Category 1 ascent from the lower Amazon approach road at 970m to Baños at 1,820m through the Pastaza River gorge, gaining 850m at 4.7% average with ramps to 9% on the tighter gorge-wall traverses. The climbing direction provides a dramatically different experience from the downhill tourist route: riding up through the gorge with the Pastaza River below and the Tungurahua volcano above, passing beneath the waterfalls from below (the road goes under the Bridal Veil and Manto de la Novia falls through tunnels cut into the gorge wall), is a technical and visually intense experience that the descent direction, at speed, cannot fully absorb. The upper section approaching Baños at 1,820m offers the first full view of Tungurahua's active summit directly above the town — a potentially smoking volcano above a cycling destination produces a tension that concentrates the attention.
Tungurahua Lookout Road
8km · 580m · 7.3% · CAT2
Banos de Agua Santa sits at 1,800m in the Pastaza river canyon at the base of the active Tungurahua volcano — a position that makes it both one of Ecuador's most dramatic cycling bases and one of its most unusual. The town's famous thermal baths draw visitors from across the country, but it is the cycling above and around Banos that makes it a genuine destination for road cyclists, and the Tungurahua Lookout Road is the signature ascent: 8km of 7.3% average climbing from the Banos valley floor to the volcanic lookout points at 2,380m, with maximum gradients of 15% on the steepest switchbacks above km 5. Tungurahua — the name translates roughly as "Throat of Fire" in Quechua — is an active stratovolcano that has erupted repeatedly since 1999. The road to the lookout points was built specifically for volcanic monitoring access and doubles as one of the finest viewpoint roads in the Ecuadorian Andes: from the upper section above 2,200m, when conditions are clear (typically 06:00-09:00), the view directly across the Pastaza canyon to Tungurahua's active crater zone is extraordinary — the summit at 5,023m rises 3,200m above the Banos valley floor, and the monitoring lookout at the climb's end provides the closest legally accessible vantage point to the summit. The climb begins from Banos central plaza at 1,800m — an unusually low starting elevation for Ecuadorian highland cycling, which means the first kilometre at 5-6% feels warmer (typically 18-20°C at the valley floor) than any other climb on the Avenue of Volcanoes. Above km 2 the gradient firms to 7-8% and the road enters the vegetation-covered canyon wall above Banos, the town visible below and the Tungurahua summit occasionally visible through cloud to the north. The most demanding section is km 5-7 at 8-10% with the 15% maximum at km 6 — a short ramp that at 2,100m altitude sits lower than most Ecuadorian climbing and thus does not carry the same physiological penalty, but requires genuine sustained effort at high gradient. Above km 7 the gradient eases to 4-6% for the final 1km approach to the summit viewpoint at 2,380m. The descent returns to Banos on the same road — 8km at 7.3% average with the 15% maximum ramp now requiring careful braking management. Combine with the Ruta de las Cascadas circuit for a full Banos cycling day: descend the lookout road to town, then follow the famous 18km downhill to Puyo through the five waterfall canyon sections.
Insider Tips
The cuy (guinea pig) is the traditional festive dish of the Chimborazo highland province and is most authentically encountered at the Sunday food markets in Riobamba's San Alfonso...
The altitude above 4,500m on Chimborazo demands very specific pacing. The standard error among fit cyclists from sea-level training is to ride the first 20km of the Chimborazo clim...
How to Get to Avenue of Volcanoes for Cycling
Getting around: Car Recommended
Riobamba is the southern base for the Avenue of Volcanoes cycling zone and provides the most direct access to Chimborazo. Latacunga, further north at 2,757m, is the base for Cotopaxi National Park acc...