Located at less than an hour from the city of La Paz, this Park has great scenic beauty in several ecological levels. These descend from the snowy peaks of the Royal Mountain Range through the high Andean steppes, to penetrate slowly in the lush cloud forests of the Yungas, the entrance door to the Amazonian region.
At present the Park covers 60.000 hectares of enormous biological diversity with at least 1800 species of superior plants, 455 identified bird species, 64 mammal species and a rich variety of bromeliads and orchids.
Cotapata is located in the La Paz Yungas, taking the road from La Paz through the Chuquiaguillo neighborhood, to climb until one crosses the mountain range, descending to the Unduavi river, which had been one of the more traditional entry points to these warm lands, (which is what Yunga means to the Andean world). Today, the road to Coroico is a widely promoted tourist destination, especially with young people and those fond of adventure tourism, thanks to the downhill “gravity assisted” biking that descends down the wrongly-named but impressive “road of death”.
Naturally the traditional way of reaching these warm lands in pre-Inca times was, obviously, on foot, through stone-paved roads. This is how old the so-called “Inca Roads” were built. One of these paths, the El Choro road, passes through the Sandillani community, inside the Cotapata National Park, where the Urpuma community-owned shelter has been built.
From June 2009 this website has no official support, therefore prices/rates and other data should be taken as reference as they may be outdated. Please confirm these information with the contact provided in the destination sheet (PDF) or contact your tour operator.
