We did the circuit in July 2013. Report => Que chévere es el cocuy
When you enter the park office in El Cocuy or Guican, they will say it is no longer possible to hike the circuit. Rangers of the park will say your safety cannot be assured. They will say it is closed because foreigners left too much litter.... BS!
The real ground of the so called unofficial closure is a dispute with the U'wa tribe, which until now is still not settled. The national park has overlap with U'wa tribe reservate and some part of the circuit is holy ground to those people. They found it disrespectful that foreigners pass their holy grounds.
We hiked thousands of miles in South America and never found a "trail" so clean as at the back of those big walls. And there is NOBODY there. It's real wild and remote. The only people you will meet out of the season are farmers living in lower valleys and just pass through.
You will have to persuade the rangers and prove you have the gear and skills for the job. They will ask you to sign a paper to take all responsibilty. In the end they will let you go! Just don't give up.
Officialy you can only do it with an official guide, recognized from the National Parks service, but there are some good guides in town who can guide you around also and they are equally good. We did it unguided.
Until now the U'wa dispute has nut turned into an official law! So there cannot be a closure of the park. That would be a real surprise for me!! It can be that they want to keep you away from the core of the park, but a full closure. Not at this moment. When we were there it was the same story. Everybody told us it was closed. Oh boy!
But please if you go, follow all rules of Leave no trace if you really care about the future of this spectacular place on earth!
Edited by: behi13
Edited by: behi13
