El Altar Trekking Baños: Yellow Lagoon & Collanes Valley

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.00 (1 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/9

Duration1d

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · DE +2

Mobile ticketAccepted

Two Days on Ecuador's Most Beautiful Snow Peak

You trek twelve kilometers through Collanes Valley on day one, sleep at the El Altar mountain refuge, and climb to Laguna Amarilla on day two to see glaciers hanging above the crater. Transport from Baños, certified guide, four meals, and lodging are included in the fixed price. Plan for early mornings and moderate physical effort — that's what gets you to the yellow lagoon and back before evening.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Travel and trek to El Altar refuge

Depart from Baños at 07:00 am
Arrive at Hacienda Rey Leche at 09:30 am
Start walk at 10:00 am
Have box lunch at 01:00 pm
Arrive at El Altar refuge at 05:00 pm
Dinner at 07:30 pm

Day 2 — Visit yellow lagoon and return

Refreshment at 05:00 am
Start walk at 05:30 am
Visit yellow lagoon at 08:00 am
Return to El Altar refuge at 09:30 am
Have box lunch at 12:00 pm
Return to Hacienda Rey Leche at 01:00 pm
Arrive and return to Baños at 05:00 pm

The Experience

There's something that pulls at you when you realize you're about to walk into a volcano. Not down into it — into the glaciers and lagoons that sit inside the crater walls of El Altar, which the Kichwa people call Kapak Urku, the lord of the mountains. You leave Baños at seven in the morning, and after two and a half hours by car you're at Hacienda Rey Leche, where the actual walking starts. The first day is twelve kilometers through Collanes Valley, one of the most biodiverse places in the country, and you're moving toward the refuge where you'll sleep that night. It's not a casual stroll — you need moderate fitness, waterproof boots, and layers because the weather changes fast up there — but it's also not a technical climb. Your guide is certified, and they know the route and the mountain.

The second morning starts early, five o'clock, because you want to be at Laguna Amarilla — the yellow lagoon — when the light hits it right. That's when you see what the glaciers actually look like, hanging from the crater walls above the water. The walk back down takes you through the same valley, but you're seeing it in reverse, and somehow it feels different. You get a box lunch at the refuge before heading down, and then the drive back to Baños, arriving around five in the evening. The whole thing — the two nights in the mountain refuge, the meals, the guide, the transport from the city — is one price, one hundred seventy dollars per person. You don't have to figure out logistics or negotiate with drivers at the trailhead.

What stays with you isn't just the lagoons or the glaciers, though those are real. It's the rhythm of it — the early starts, the sound of the valley, the fact that you're sleeping inside a volcano and waking up to walk deeper into it. Bring waterproof clothing, a good backpack, a hat and gloves. The mountain is cold, and it rains. That's not a complaint; that's the thing that makes it feel true.

What’s included

Your two days include air-conditioned transport from Baños to Hacienda Rey Leche and back, a certified mountain guide for both days, lodging at the El Altar refuge in Collanes Valley, four box meals (lunch on day one, dinner, refreshment and lunch on day two), entrance to the Rey Leche farm, and photographs taken during the activity. Drinks and snacks beyond the included meals are your own cost.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Special holiday offer. Best of Ecuador | Tour Operator - Explorjungle

Is this one for you?Right for hikers with moderate fitness who want to see glacial lagoons inside a volcano without arranging their own logistics. Expect early mornings, cold weather, and a full two days out — that's what puts you at the yellow lagoon and inside one of Ecuador's most beautiful mountains.