One of the best things to do in Mindo is to visit Tarabita and hike to the waterfalls. In this park, you’ll get your choice of three different trails and seven different waterfalls. Whether you’re looking for a short trail or something more challenging, it’s a visit to Tarabita is a great way to spend a few hours at the waterfalls in Mindo, Ecuador.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the Mindo waterfalls.
Getting to Waterfalls in Mindo, Ecuador
The Tarabita waterfalls are not actually located in Mindo, so step one is to get to the waterfalls. You have two options for how to do this.
Option one is the cheap option, but it’s also the longer of the two options. It’s a little over an hour walk to reach the Mindo waterfalls from the town. It’s an option if you want to save money, but since visiting these Mindo waterfalls also includes hiking, this wouldn’t be my first choice. In fact, it was this walk that initially had be considering skipping the Mindo waterfalls altogether.
Option two is to take a taxi. I met some people at my hotel who were going to the Mindo waterfalls and offered to split a taxi with me. This worked out great both for the budget and because we had an Ecuadorian with us. She arranged the taxi and made sure we didn’t have to pay the gringo price. We paid $5 to get to the waterfalls and another $6 to get back. I’m not sure why we had to pay more on the way back, since taxis were waiting at the entrance of Tarabita, but I’m not gong to argue about one extra dollar (especially when it’s split among three people).
Once you arrive, you’ll pay a $5 entrance fee. This fee includes the ride on the cable car across the tree tops. You’ll take this cable car to the start of your hike where a guide will explain your different options. When you’re finished hiking, you can take the cable car back to the start.
Hiking Options at the Mindo Waterfalls
When you get off the cable car, a guide will explain the three routes to you. If you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry. There’s also a poster that explains the routes in pictures so that every language can understand. Just note that all of the times listed on the map are the times to hike one way. You’ll still have to hike back after visiting the waterfalls.
Ruta 1 – Cascada Nambillo
The shortest and easiest of the three routes at the Mindo waterfalls is the route to Cascada Nambillo. From the start of the trail, it’s about 20 minutes one way to reach the waterfall. While I didn’t make it to this waterfall (we were running out of time), based on what I’ve read, this is the best waterfall to visit if you’re not up for a lot of hiking.
Ruta 2 – Cascada Reina
The most impressive waterfall is Cascada Reina, or so I’m told. We ran out of time to see this waterfall. It’s the hardest hike and it takes one hour each way to reach the fall. The main reason we skipped this hike and did route #3 instead is because we were told we couldn’t swim in this waterfall. So keep that in mind as you decide which route to hike.
Ruta 3 – Santuario de Cascadas
Route #2 takes longer and takes you to five waterfalls. It’s the only route that includes multiple waterfalls and therefore, I think it’s a popular route. We passed plenty of people in both directions on this trail.
From the start of the trail, it’s about one hour of hiking to reach all five waterfalls (plus another hour back to the starting point). During my visit to the Mindo waterfalls, this is the hike I did. I logged 2.45 miles and 860 feet of elevation gain. Allow yourself at least two hours for this hike (though we did it in 1 hour and 40 minutes including all of our stops).
Along this route, you’ll pass five waterfalls as you hike through the jungle. While I did a short hike through the jungle in Baños, Ecuador, it felt great to be doing even more hiking in this kind of environment. It was warm and I felt very sticky by the time we finished, but I loved how green everything was. And that’s even before we get to the waterfalls.
The first waterfall is Cascada Ondinas, which was my least favorite. It just doesn’t have much of a wow factor. Next is Cascada Guarumos which is much better and feels like a proper waterfall. That said, it’s hard to get a good grasp of the size of the waterfall due to the forestry around it, but it’s still nice.
Continuing on, you’ll reach Cascada Colibries, but we couldn’t actually see this waterfall unless we took our shoes off and walked into the water. That was a bit of a bummer. Cascada Madre is next and is pretty nice, but I think the final waterfall of Cascada Maderos is the best.
The waterfall trail is very easy to follow. Just note that you’ll be doing a bit of up and down as you hike from waterfall to waterfall. You’ll start with a descent, followed by an ascent to reach the last waterfall. On the way back, you’ll do that same trail in reverse.
You can swim in the river at most of the waterfalls on Ruta #3 but I think it’s important to note that the water is pretty cold. At least, it was cold when we were here. The sun hadn’t been out and that definitely made for some colder water, both at these waterfalls and the next day when we went tubing on the Mindo River.
A Note About Your Hike
While wearing sunscreen should feel obvious, I want to also remind you to wear bug spray. Mindo is much lower in elevation than Quito and you will find mosquitoes buzzing around you. I forgot to apply bug spray before I went, but thankfully I was able to borrow some from a new friend.
More in Mindo
Visiting the Mindo waterfalls is just one thing that you can do in Mindo. There are numerous tour agencies around the small town and any agency will be able to help you arrange whatever tour is most interesting to you. Popular activities include zip lining and tubing down the Mindo River. But there’s also plenty for nature lovers including bird watching, butterfly gardens, taking a chocolate tour, and even more.
How to Get to Mindo
Despite being a small town, there are frequent buses connecting Mindo and Quito. Now, these buses may not be as frequent as you might like, but there are at least four buses per day. You can find the schedule on the Flor de Valle website.
Note that the bus to Mindo departs from Quito’s Terminal Ofelia station. Depending on where you are staying in Quito, it could add an extra hour to your journey. Depending on traffic, it could take an hour to reach Terminal Ofelia from the Historic Center.
The bus from Mindo to Quito takes between two and two and a half hours. It just depends on traffic in Quito and how often the bus stops to pick up and drop off passengers along the way.
Can You Visit Mindo on a Day Trip from Quito?
Technically yes, you can visiting Mindo on a day trip from Quito. However, because of the travel time involved, I would recommend trying to spend the night in Mindo. I think that just gives you a little bit more time to really enjoy what Mindo has to offer.
That said, my friend visited Mindo on a day trip because that was all she had time for. She enjoyed her trip, but she recognizes that she didn’t get to do all of the fun activities in Mindo.
Final Thoughts
Mindo is a cute small town to explore, but in my opinion, one of the best things to do is to leave the town itself to visit the Mindo waterfalls. With three different hiking routes, you’re sure to find one that is perfect for your trip.
Continue Your Adventure
Ecuador: Spend one day in Quito, Ecuador’s capital city. From here you can visit Mitad del Mundo to visit the equator, take a day trip to Otavalo, or take a day trip to hike to Cotopaxi Base Camp. Continue hiking with the three day Quilotoa Loop trek. Baños is an adventure town, but I recommend a jungle tour. Don’t forget Cuenca, which I think is one of the prettiest towns in South America. Learn even more in my Ecuador Travel Guide.
More South American Waterfalls: Ecuador isn’t the only place to find great waterfalls. In Colombia, consider visiting the Juan Curi Waterfall in San Gil or Cueva del Esplendor in Jardin.
