camping close to bogota

One of the most popular dams close to Bogota is the Neusa dam. Only an hour and a half away from Bogota, this dam makes for a great spot for outdoor activities and is especially well-known for its camping. What’s best about this place is that it’s so dam big that even though it’s a popular spot, it doesn’t feel saturated with people. Here’s how to get to the Neusa Dam and some things you should know about it!

*Bored of the city? Check out this blog post for a list of places to do outdoor activities close to Bogota!

How to get to the Neusa Dam

You can find the map to get to the Neusa Dam at the bottom of this post!

In Public Transportation:

1. In Bogota, make your way to the Portal del Norte, which is a bus station in the north of the city (you can plan your route there from your location on Google Maps).
2. Take a bus to Zipaquira, which will cost about $5,000 COP ($1.70 USD). Once you’re there, ask for a bus that will take you straight to the Neusa Dam. This one costs about $4,000 COP ($1 USD). Both buses, and actually all buses, will have signs attached to their windshields saying where they are headed.
3. After climbing up the road to the Neusa Dam, the bus will drop you off at the entrance, where there’s a fork in the road to go left or right. To the left about 1 kilometer, you’ll find the Dam’s administration, where you pay, and then one of the camping areas, called “Chapinero,” with 5 camping spots if you keep going. To the right, you’ll find the other camping area, called “Laureles,” with 7 camping spots. The camping to the right is more popular because of the pine forests. We recommend zone 4 of Laureles.

In a Car:

With a GPS: type in “Embalse Neusa Park” on Waze or Google Maps and follow the directions.

Without a GPS:

1. In Bogota, drive north on the Autopista and leave the city. Keep heading north until you reach the first bridge. Don’t go over it. Follow directions to Chia, taking a road to the right, which will then curve to the left, under the bridge.
2. Stay on this road until the next bridge. Go over this bridge, staying on the right. Continue on this road until you see a Homecenter on your right. Shortly after, you’ll take a right where there’s a sign for Zipaquira and Ubate.
3. Stay on this road until you get to a bridge. Stay on your left to go over the bridge, which will take you to the right, following the sign to Ubate.
4. Shortly afterwards, you’ll run into a round-about. Take the second exit. This road is adjacent to the main road, but much quicker. When it runs back into the main road, get on it to the right.
5. Soon, you’ll see a sign that says “Embalse del Neusa 14km.” There, get on the left and do a U-turn where the road allows it (in Spanish it’s a retorno). The entrance to go up to the Neusa Dam is the first entrance to the right after the U-turn.
6. From there, just follow the main road and you’ll reach the main entrance of the Neusa Dam!
7. At the entrance, there’s a fork in the road to go left or right. To the left about 1 kilometer, you’ll find the Dam’s administration, where you pay, and then one of the camping areas, called “Chapinero,” with 5 camping spots if you keep going. To the right, you’ll find the other camping area, called “Laureles,” with 7 camping spots. The camping to the right is more popular because of the pine forests.
8. Find a picnic, or camping spot and park right next to it!

Click here to read some of our tips on car camping!

Prices

Camping at the Neusa Dam costs $60,000 pesos (15 USD) per person, and you can stay up to 3 nights with this. If you’re camping, you don’t have to pay an additional entrance fee. Don’t throw away your receipt, since park authorities will ask for it every night.

The entrance fee to the park for day-trips costs $6,000 pesos ($1.5 USD) for Colombians and $13,500 pesos ($4 USD) for foreigners.

To see all the prices for everything (cabins, fishing, grill, etc.), go to this link.

Some things to know:

• Make sure you have cash, especially small bills for buses.
• The Neusa Dam is open from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm for people going just for the day. Service hours for camping are from 8:30 am to 10:00 pm. The dam is open every day except Monday, or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday, to allow the environment a day to recover from the crowds.
• This park is pet friendly.
• If you have a boat or kayak, and a license to use it at the Neusa Dam, which you can get for free at the Ministry of Transport in Bogota, you can use it and go fishing in the dam. Each day of boat-use costs $26,500 COP ($9 USD).
• The rainiest seasons are April to June and October to November.

What to do at the Neusa Dam:

The challenge: take a bike with you and bike around the dam! There’s a road that goes the whole way around the dam. Whichever way you go (left or right when you get to the dam), you’ll bike along an unpaved road until you enter Tausa, a nearby town, and then make your way to the unpaved road on the other side of the dam to continue your trek and make it back. If you’re up for the challenge of challenges, ride your bike from Bogota, ride around the dam, and then ride back!

Camp: the Neusa Dam is most well-known for its camping. That’s because in a country where there is a tiny amount of infrastructure for outdoor activities, this place is a breath of fresh air. The roads, though unpaved, are easy to drive along, and you don’t have to hike to your camping spot – you can park your car right next to your tent, only 15 meters from the water’s edge. It’s comfortable but still adventuresome, which means it draws crowds.

Pack for comfort: I say this because my brother and I didn’t do it right. We had little food, no fire, no warm place to sit while still outside of the tent, BUT we did have a thermos full of hot coffee. We’re used to camping simply, hours from the car. But we realized you can take a lot of things with you when you’re right next to your car. Take anything you need, such as to make a big fire, two foldable chairs, a guitar, a harmonica, TWO thermoses of hot coffee and lots of food.

Take pictures: especially at dawn. The place is beautiful, but at dawn there’s fog over the water, birds flying around, and the water is so still that everything is almost perfectly reflected.

Another ridiculously beautiful place, where you can also camp, is La Chorrera. This place is a must, since it houses Colombia’s tallest waterfall. It’s also only an hour and a half from Bogota!