Hiking the Amazing Cascadas Del Rio Colorado – Cafayate, Argentina

During my pre-trip googling of things to do in Cafayate, hiking the Cascadas Del Rio Colorado kept popping up. An 11 kilometre route winding through waterfalls, canyons, and lagoons in the desert outside of Cafayate, with viewpoints and beautiful scenery to boot.

(The other thing that popped up was the Quebrada de las Conchas, which we biked and wrote about here)!

After talking to a couple in our hostel who had done the hike to Cascadas Del Rio Colorado with a guide the day before, we decided we would be ok to head out on our own. The couple told us that they had paid a base fee to the guide at the beginning, and that they also had to pay an extra fee every time they reached a new waterfall.

There are 11 or 12 waterfalls on the Cascadas Del Rio Colorado hike, (the number isn’t for sure since it seems to be up to the guide if they’re going to claim the trickle they’re looking at is a ‘waterfall’ or not). So, we weren’t super interested in forking over cash-per-site for waterfalls that aren’t actualllly waterfalls.

With that in mind, and willing to prove that we could do it on our own, we woke up the next morning and grabbed a taxi from Cafayate’s main square to the trailhead

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Beginning the Hike to Cascadas Del Rio Colorado

We arrived to a somewhat official looking post, with a somewhat official looking park agent, where we signed in and paid our 20 peso entrance fee. (We asked our hostel about this, it’s a legitimate entrance fee.) This is the point where we were swamped by over zealous guides insisting that we needed their services. Kindly assuring them that we were fine after much insisting, “it was too difficult”, we set out on our own.

Hiking Cascadas del Rio Colorado is definitely not a leisurely walk. The majority of the time we were criss-crossing the river, scrambling from rock to rock. We used the app maps.me, and we honestly wouldn’t of made it to the final waterfall if we hadn’t. It started off easy enough, but a couple hours in I was covered in scrapes and absolutely melting. Even using maps.me had it’s own challenges. Being in the bottom of a canyon played with the GPS, so it went wonky on us a few times.

Meet Perro – Our Cascadas Del Rio Colorado Rescue Pup

Of course, it’s impossible for us to go on any sort of outdoor adventure without something ridiculous happening. We were a couple hours in, when we heard a dog yelping from somewhere. We followed the pitiful sound in what we hoped was the right direction, (canyons, so many ECHOS). Scrambling down a sheer rock face, we came into an opening at the top of a large waterfall. About halfway below us, above the pool on a rock outcropping, was a small pup. (After lengthy discussion, we still have no idea how it got there. The water was still a climb below the rock, and the dog would of had no way to get back up. Mystery unsolved.)

After some solid footwork, and a close call with the edge of the cliff, we maneuvered down to the dog. Getting back up was a bit more of a hassle, considering we had to carry our new SUPER excited tag along back up to the top. Obviously well fed and loved by somebody, we couldn’t figure out how she ended up in the middle of nowhere, halfway down a waterfall.

With our new pal on our heels, we continued on to the final and largest waterfall of the hike. After an extremely sweaty hike to get there, the water was bitterly cold (coming from a Canadian), but SO refreshing.

Goat Paths & Cacti Plants – Getting Lost In the Cascadas del Rio Colorado

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long. Hiking in to Cascadas del Rio Colorado took farrrr longer than expected with the dog rescue detour, and we wanted to make it back to Cafayate before dark. We were told that there was an unmarked shortcut out of the canyon, so we started searching for the path. After looking for a while we picked a spot which was basically just up over the side. So, we headed up with our new pal on our heels. Pretty quickly we realized that there were numerous paths going up besides ours, all of them being equally worn goat paths. We picked one that seemed to have the least bramble, and made our way to the top of the canyon.

The views and landscapes through the entire Cascadas Del Rio Colorado hike were amazing, but our hike up and over definitely took the cake. We hadn’t been that high up since the majority of the time we were following the river. Once we had a bit of height, we could see for miles through the canyon. We could also see where the water hits during wet season, and it makes perfect sense why they warn you to be cautious if trying to do this hike when it’s rainy.

One of the perks of being in a fairly barren landscape is that you can see for miles. We spotted the river that we had followed in, so we headed down and followed the river towards Cafayate.

 

Once we were out of the woods (cacti), we had to figure out how to get back to Cafayate. The entrance is about six kilometres outside of town, and there are no taxis or public transportation out that far. We began walking and lucked out when a lovely German with the foresight to rent a car, picked us up. Perfect!

If you’re in Cafayate and looking for a way to spend your days, I wrote a post about our time in the quaint little town here!

The Details for Hiking Cascadas Del Rio Colorado

Taxi to entrance of Cascadas Del Rio Colorado  – 100 pesos
Cascadas Del Rio Colorado entrance fee – 20 pesos pp (as of March 2018)
Make sure to wear a hat, and bring LOTS of water and snacks. The majority of the hike is exposed, so we definitely needed it.

 

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HOW TO GET TO CAFAYTE

We flew from Buenos Aires into Salta, and then took Flechabus into Cafayate from Salta’s central bus station. The bus from Salta to Cafayate leaves numerous times throughout the day, and was 350 pesos.

When booking a day tour from Salta to Cafayate, you have another option. It’s possible to stay in Cafayate overnight and use the return to Salta another day. Check with the tour provider to get the details.

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WHERE TO STAY IN CAFAYATE

Hostal Rustyk

A homey little hacienda with an adorable back garden, private rooms and dorm rooms are available. There’s a charcoal grill in the backyard that you’re free to use, and a well equipped kitchen. One of the nights we were there, the owners organized and prepared a massive Argentinian BBQ for everyone staying, it was amazing.  A continental breakfast is included.