Biking Chimborazo is one of the best things you can do while visiting Riobamba, Ecuador

Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador, towering above the city Riobamba. Are you looking for an ultimate experience, but climbing the mountain sounds too challenging? Biking down Chimborazo might be the right activity for you when traveling in Ecuador. This travel guide includes everything you need to know about our Chimborazo biking experience.

If you are traveling around Ecuador, you shouldn't miss the city of Riobamba along the way.

The city is the capital of Chimborazo Province located in central Ecuador, and although Riobamba doesn't offer that much in terms of history and architecture - in comparison with Quito or Cuenca - this deficit is compensated when it comes to culture and natural beauty.

The significant community of indigenous people living in the city and near surroundings still wear their layered dress and work in traditional industries. As avid photographers, we found that very appealing.

Moreover, visitors can explore the beautiful volcanic landscape outside the city's boundaries. This is actually the reason why our steps led to Riobamba.

We wanted to explore Chimborazo National Park, a national park that is home to the highest mountain of Ecuador and stunning flora and fauna.

We were not attracted only by the iconic, perfect-volcano shaped mountain, but also by the possibility to try a new activity, biking down Chimborazo itself.

After having this experience, we even listed Chimborazo National Park among the best places to visit in Ecuador.

Ultimately, there are plenty of things to do in Riobamba, so it would be a shame to skip it all.

In this travel guide, we would like to inspire you to visit this place, and it is only up to you if you decide on biking, hiking, or any other activity. Because we cycled down Chimborazo's slopes, we will focus more on this activity in this blog post.

CHIMBORAZO NATIONAL PARK

Riobamba is the biking, hiking, and climbing capital of Ecuador that you must include in your Ecuador itinerary.

It is the gateway to the mountains and a place where adventure and outdoor enthusiasts love to visit because of the endless number of activities. The proximity to snow-capped peaks and volcanoes is hard to beat.

While Chimborazo is the highest mountain that receives the most of the attention, there are other snow-capped volcanic peaks such as Carihuairazo, Sangay, El Altar, and the most active one, Tungurahua.

When we arrived in the city or were only leisurely strolling around Riobamba, we couldn't believe our own eyes how many volcanos we could see at once.

There is one fun fact associated with Chimborazo mountain.

Did you know that Chimborazo is the ‘highest’ mountain in the world? How is it possible?

Yes, Mount Everest is 8848 meters high while Chimborazo lies 'only' 6263 meters above sea level.

However, the peak of Chimborazo is the closest point to the sun from the center of the Earth (its location is along with the equatorial bulge) - from this point of view, Chimborazo beats Mount Everest by 2 kilometers.

Chimborazo is the highest mountain of Ecuador.

WHERE TO STAY IN RIOBAMBA

Planning to stay in Riobamba and looking for accommodation?

The good news is that you have quite many options. Riobamba offers a decent selection of hotels and hostels that can suit every type of traveler.

The city center is very compact, and it is also close to the bus station, so there's no reason to stay on the outskirt of the city.

We've handpicked the three best hotels in Riobamba for everyone.

Budget | Villa Bonita - This colonial-style hostel offers both dormitories and private rooms. Guests can use a fully equipped kitchen and garden - a great choice for all budget travelers.

Mid-range | Mirador de Bellavista Riobamba - If you are looking for a quiet and peaceful stay in a historic building from the late 19th century in the city center, this might be just the perfect choice for you.

Mid-range | Hotel Santa Isabella - We stayed in this beautifully renovated hotel built in colonial style and had a great time. The room was bright and clean, and we loved the indigenous soaps and shampoos from Amazon.

CHIMBORAZO EXPERIENCE - WHAT ACTIVITY TO CHOOSE

Chimborazo mountain is heaven on Earth for all who love mountains and for those who like to spend their time actively.

There are several ways to enjoy Chimborazo National Park and get to this Ecuadorian giant's proximity - it only depends on your preferences.

One more thing to consider. Acclimatization is essential for high altitude activities, especially if you arrive from places such as the Galapagos Islands.

HIKING

One-day hiking or multiday trekking is an option for those who want to spend some time and stretch their legs in Chimborazo National Park.

You can either walk from Refugio Carrel to Refugio Whymper at 5060 meters and from here carry on a bit further to Laguna Condor Cocha (it takes about an hour and a half return).

Or if you prefer having panoramic views of Chimborazo rather than walk on its slopes, you can opt for a multi-day hike which encircles the mountain. Always check if it is necessary to have a guide.

CLIMBING

Who wouldn't want to conquer the summit of the highest mountain of Ecuador?

Well, admittedly, this activity is not for everyone, but only for well-trained mountain climbers or at least those who have some experience with mountain climbing and excellent physical conditions.

The summit of Chimborazo lies at 6263 meters, and the climb can be done in two days, assuming that you are well-acclimatized. If not, add a couple of days.

BIKING

No, we don't think you should bike all the way up, although it would be a challenging exercise for those who like to push their limits, and it is for sure possible.

Biking all the way down sounds much more exciting, right?

Also, when we read about all the activities which were possible to do in Chimborazo National Park, biking its slopes down was the one which immediately caught our eyes.

It was at the end also what we did. In this article, we share our experience of biking down the Chimborazo.

SCENIC DRIVE

There is an asphalt road from Riobamba to the national park's borders, and here it changes into a dirt road that will take you to Refugio Carrel in 4850 meters above sea level.

If you feel that physical activity at this altitude is not for you, that's a good compromise.

From Riobamba, take the scenic route to the refuge. Along the way, you can admire stunning views of Chimborazo and also wild vicunas. We believe that if you spend only a short time at the altitude, you should be fine.

CHIMBORAZO BIKING TOUR

It doesn't matter if you visit Ecuador on a long-term travel trip or during a few weeks long vacations. If you are not on a specialized biking trip, we assume that you don't have your bike with you. Nor we did.

The easiest way to solve this problem is to book a tour in Riobamba - you will get all the equipment plus you don't need to worry about getting to Chimborazo National Park.

You will find several travel agencies in Riobamba, but only a few of them are specialized in biking tours. After thorough research, we have chosen to team up with Julio Verne Travel.

If you read our blog frequently, you already figured out that we prefer traveling independently. Taking a tour is for us something special, so we always try to find as much information as possible, so we can be sure we are in good hands.

There were several reasons why we chose this company. Still, the most significant one was that Julio Verne Travel operates for more than 23 years.

It is not that common to find a small company with such a long history in tourism, especially in Ecuador - and also the company offers more tours than only this one, so we believed they would be well-experienced.

Travel Insurance

We never leave our home without travel insurance which is designed to help cover our expenses if something goes wrong during the trip.

World Nomads provides travel insurance for travelers to cover their trip essentials, including sports and adventure activities.

SafetyWing is affordable travel insurance for backpackers, long-term travelers, and digital nomads.

Make sure your travel insurance also covers high altitude hiking and adventure activities such as biking or climbing.

Travel smarter and safer!

BIKING DOWN CHIMBORAZO

The tour started in Riobamba. Our guide, who was also driving a car, picked us up in front of the office.

We jumped on a minivan as we had approximately an hour in the car ahead of us to get to Chimborazo National Park. The drive up is scenic as the road goes through the picturesque landscape of the Andean highlands.

We could stop along the way as many times as we wanted and take pictures of Chimborazo (which was without clouds in the morning, but then dark clouds from the other side of the valley started to roll over) and wild vicunas on the pastures around.

Vicunas, wild relatives of lamas, are very shy, so try not to scare them.

Vicuna is relative of the llama, and is now believed to be the wild ancestor of domesticated alpacas

At about 4400 meters, we turned right from the main road to the dirt one, where also our guide had to check us in the park. Then we carried on to the parking lot at the Refugio Carrel at 4850 meters.

It is always good to be well-acclimatized or at least know what to expect at an altitude of about 5000 meters.

From our experience, we usually don't feel the altitude much when we are that high, only for a couple of hours.

We returned from our 7-day Galapagos Islands cruise only one week before biking down the Chimborazo, then spent some time at about 3000 meters above sea level, and we felt just fine.

It is necessary to say that you will be at the high altitude only for about two hours during this tour, and then you will start biking down, so hopefully, everything should be alright.

If not, inform the guide immediately.

This biking tour includes a combination with a short hike (it is up to you if you want to go up or not, though).

We walked up to Refugio Whymper at 5060 meters, and from here, we carried on a bit further to Laguna Condor Cocha at 5100 meters.

The trail is easy to follow, and it leads all the way up on a nice stony-dirt path. We walked slowly but still reached the lagoon in about 40 minutes.

Here we stayed for a while, took some photos, and observed how Chimborazo's summit disappears in the cloud.

When we returned to the parking lot, we quickly put on all protectors. Meanwhile, our guide Dimitri prepared bikes for us, and we could start the downhill mountain bike ride.

And what a ride it was!

From the start (4850m) to the finish (in 3100 meters), you don't need to pedal at all.

The first 9 km led on the dirt zig-zag road with impressive views of the hilly and barren (almost moon-like) landscape, while the base of Chimborazo was looming behind us.

Also, because I rode the bike a bit slower, it was cool to see Martin as a tiny point in front of me, disappearing in the dust.

When we reached a checkpoint, we turned left and rode the rest of the 29 km on an asphalted road with very little traffic to the village of San Juan. In this section, we could watch the landscape changes as everything turned greener while we were descending.

Along the way down, we took many stops to take photos or only to have a rest from braking.

In San Juan, we stopped in the restaurant for lunch (included in the price), and after lunch, we headed back to Riobamba.

The whole trip can take 5 - 7 hours. It depends if you want to hike to the second refuge and also how fast you will be while biking on the way down.

There is no need to hurry as this trip's purpose is to enjoy the spectacular views and the ride itself than to race.

Great activity to do in Ecuador is biking down the Chimborazo mountain

BIKING GEAR

What we had to do the first thing in the morning, right after we arrived in the office, was to try the bike for size and inspect other equipment - helmets, gloves, knee and elbow pads, and balaclavas.

What we checked first were brakes as we knew we would use them a lot that day.

There was a lot of equipment in the office as the agency, apart from biking, also do climbing, multi-day trekking, or Amazon tours.

Everything looked pretty new and in good shape that for a moment we had a feeling we are in a sports shop rather than in the travel agent's office with rental equipment.

TOUR GUIDES

It was only two of us for the tour that day, probably because we arrived in Riobamba at the beginning of October, which is mid-season in Ecuador, so we truly received personalized service.

All guides are Ecuadorians (although the company is Dutch-owned) and must be certified and specialized for each activity.

We have only words of praise for our guide, Dimitri, who spoke English well, was communicative and knowledgeable about the area of Chimborazo.

He also followed us all the way down in the car if something would have happened or in case of mechanical issues.

HOW WAS BIKING DOWN CHIMBORAZO

We've never done a tour similar to this one, a combination of a short hike and then biking. Also, we've never done such effortless bike riding as cycling downhill from Chimborazo.

The only demanding factor is the altitude; otherwise, we believe that everyone can make it.

What we liked the most was that this day wasn't only about enjoying nice views (even though it was still the number one reason why we wanted to visit Chimborazo National Park), but it was also an actively spent day (something we miss when traveling long term).

And moreover, it was fun!

We also appreciated the service we received - it was professional and smooth.

What do you think: is biking in Chimborazo National Park something you would like to try when in Ecuador?

Starting point for biking Chimborazo is a city of Riobamba, Ecuador

WHAT TO PACK

The tour operator provides travelers with all the essentials; you should only bring a rain jacket, bandana, and an extra warm layer.

We've handpicked a few items you should have in your daypack.

It's windy in 5000 meters, and it can rain anytime. Your Gore-Tex jacket should be water and windproof for the ride down.

Bring a small and comfortable daypack to pack your snacks, extra layers of clothes, water, and a camera.

Make sure to have sunglasses to protect your eyes from the sun, dust, and dirt. Bandana is a great little thing you need to use against dust, wind, and sun.

The location can be tricky - you will be near the Equator at 5000 meters above sea level; therefore, use strong sunscreen with SPF 50+.

If you want to capture your adventure on a camera, consider packing a GoPro and helmet mount, so you don't need to hold your action camera or cell phone in your hands for safety reasons.

JULIO VERNE TRAVEL INFORMATION

For the information about tours, you can check the Julio Verne Travel website.

To contact the office, click on the contact form.

This post was written in collaboration with Julio Verne Travel. As always, all opinions are our own.

Travel Resources

Here you can find links to all the travel resources we use and which you might find helpful when planning your next holiday.

Accommodation: When looking for accommodation, we usually search hotels via Booking.com or Hostelworld.

Tours: Although we love to travel independently, some places are better to visit with a guided tour.

We prefer GetYourGuide for its easy-to-use interface and solid reputation. Another great alternative is Viator.

Rental Cars: When going on a road trip, we always use Rentalcars.com, a reliable site for booking a rental car in advance.

Flight Tickets: When looking for flight tickets, you can search Skyscanner to find the best price.

Travel Insurance: World Nomads and SafetyWing cover against risks of travel.

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Biking Down Chimborazo: Ultimate Adventure in Ecuador