Walking

Baños has some great hiking. The tourist office provides a crude but useful map showing some of the trails around town.

The walk down to Río Pastaza is easy and popular. Just behind the sugarcane stalls by the bus station, a short trail leads to the Puente San Francisco, the bridge that crosses the river. You can continue on trails up the other side as far as you want. Going south on Maldonado takes you to a path that climbs to Bellavista, where a white cross stands high over Baños. The path then continues to the settlement of Runtún, some two hours away. The views are outstanding. You can then loop around and back down to Baños, ending up at the southern end of JL Mera. This takes you via the statue of La Virgen del Agua Santa about half an hour from town. The whole walk takes four to five hours. West of town, turn right by a religious shrine and walk down to Puente San Martín and visit the impressive falls of Cascada Inés María, a few hundred meters to the right of the bridge. You can also cross the bridge and continue to the village of Lligua, about three hours away. From this road, trails climb up the hills to your right.