PNN El Cocuy is CLOSED

Hi everybody,
Many thanks to the people providing useful information about the access to the park on this thread.

Is there any recent news about the entry in the park? Is it currently possible to enter the park, or are the accesses really blocked by local folks? Is the "blocking" just some intimidation displayed to limit the tourists to the most daring/adacious ones (as it's clearly written on the official park website that it is opend)? Is it possible onc there to just take the assurance at the tourism office and go in one way or another?

Even if the locals are currently reluctant to let tourists go in the park, the reports read previously in this thread don't lead to think they are hostile/violent, providing you don't wander too far beyond the normal trail and providing you don't throw away trash... Is this right?

Regards

The official status is "open to the public" however the PNN website then adds that entry is prevented by road blocks set up by the local communities.

Is the "blocking" just some intimidation displayed to limit the tourists to the most daring/adacious ones...?

I really don't think so. I am sure that it's a response to continued damage to the area by irresponsible visitors. The question should not, in my view, be "If am persuasive enough (or forceful enough?), can I enter the Park?", it should be "Am I interested in ignoring the wishes of those who live in the area?".

The local residents are not violent, however they are certainly hostile to the behaviour by visitors which has led to this situation.

honestly, it sounds really strange that the damage by the visitors is the only or main reason to the closure. It sounds more like issues between authorities, farmers, indigenous..

When i was in the park, i did the 3 days loop that goes up to bella vista, and then back through the lagunillas, i havent seen one thing that looked like something coming from a human being. Everything was totally clean. I've seen many other National parks in the world, US, NZ, Australia..., and Cocuy is largely on par with the best protected ones in terms of dirtyness.

anyway you can't ignore the fact they dont want you there.. But its really hard to understand the factual reasons behind this whole mess..

Coincidentally, I note that today's quote is

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.”
— James Michener

(my emphasis)

As always, the behaviour of a few affects the many.

honestly, it sounds really strange that the damage by the visitors is the only or main reason to the closure. It sounds more like issues between authorities, farmers, indigenous..

What would the motive be for blocking access to the park, other than concerns over continued damage to the ecosystem, or incursion to areas considered sacred by people who don't respect this, or both?

Visitors provide much-needed income to the local residents, the vast majority of visitors do indeed conduct themselves responsibly, however the recent football match above the snowline was the "straw that broke the camel's back" - http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/boyaca-7-dias/rechazo-a-partido-de-futbol-en-la-sierra-nevada-del-cocuy/16524163 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob-bWfF5qKQ.

PS: last week the blocks were still being maintained.

Honestly i agree with you (what other motive there would be?), and thank you for your very interesting link,

But I can only witness what i've seen : the place is perfectly clean. So i can't stop from thinking that part of the reason can be incomprehension (since when a - probably very short - soccer match in the snow is going to cause degradations to the environnment ?) and politics (there might be some money issues involved that we dont know about).

Its only speculations, but fact remains that the part of the park i've hiked is definitely as clean as many other parks in the world..

Indeed the park is generally in good shape physically as you say.

Perhaps an analogy or two might offer additional clarity: imagine an impromptu football match played in the Grand Mosque, the Grand Temple of Amritsar, or the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes .

Well the big noise about the football was from the farmers - not the indigenous (which might consider the place sacred) . Therefore the comparison seems quite exagerated to me..

Anyway I'm not saying they don't haven valid complaints, just that we might really know all about it.. Or maybe we do.. Hard to tell..

I certainly would not claim to know everything there is to know, and agree that there will no doubt be multiple interests and tensions involved.

The local population of Güican and El Cocuy are certainly more visible in the blockades, although if anything you would think that these would be the ones who lose most in economic terms.

If anything you would think that the