Hiking
Ecuador's great wilderness areas and striking landscapes offer fantastic opportunities for hiking , though a general absence of well-marked trails and decent trekking maps does mean more effort is required to tap into the potential. The widest choice of hikes is found in the sierra, where numerous mule paths lead into the mountains and up to the paramo, providing access to stunning views and exhilarating, wide-open spaces. The country's best-known long-distance hike is in the southern sierra: the Inca Trail to Ingapirca , a three-day hike ending up at Ecuador's most important Inca ruins. Also down in the south, Parque Nacional El Cajas provides some of the best hiking in the country, in a landscape strongly reminiscent of the Scottish highlands, while Parque Nacional Podocarpus offers a fabulous two-day hike across the paramo to the Lagunas del Compadre . Elsewhere in the sierra, rewarding possibilities include day-hikes in the area around Laguna Quilotoa and the nearby village of Sigchos , and a wonderful two-day hike to El Placer hot springs in Parque Nacional Sangay . There are few options for hiking in the Oriente, owing to dense forest cover - one notable exception is the two- to four-day Reventador trail . These suggestions are far from exhaustive, but provide a starting point for ideas, if you want to plan your trip around a few hikes.
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