If you’re looking for a hike that’s a lot like Monserrate, but not as crowded, the hike to La Valvanera Chapel is the one for you. It’s not in Bogota, but in a town right outside the city called Chía. The hike is easy, but nice and steep at some points. There are also two bike trails, one on a road up to the chapel and a mountain biking trail to get down the mountain. This is how to get to La Valvanera.
Check out the map at the bottom of the post for a visual guide!
How to get to La Valvanera in Chía
In Public Transportation (check out the map because getting around Chia can be a little confusing):
- If you’re in Bogota, head to Portal Norte (marked on the map below) and take a Flota Chia almost all the way to the Chia Transportation Terminal. This costs $3,500 Colombian pesos.
- Get off right before the terminal at Calle 11 – you can tell the driver and they’ll drop you off there.
- Walk on Calle 11 all the way until it ends, staying on its weird turns, and passing a bridge that goes over a small but beautiful creek.
- If you’re hiking, go left where Calle 11 ends and take the first road to the right. A little to the right of where this new road ends, after some shops where you can buy some treats, you’ll see a big sign, which is the trailhead for the hike up to La Valvanera Chapel.
- If you’re biking, go right where Calle 11 ends and take the first road to the left. If you stay on this road, you’re pretty much on the bike route. So keep going straight when you get to an intersection and you’ll start the climb up. At the first definite Y in the road, take a left, and then take the middle road at the middle intersection, where there’s a sign towards the La Valvanera Chapel. This is the longest and least steep bike route.
- There are two steeper bike rides coming from the other side of the Chapel, and doing all of them on the same trip is a great idea! I’ve marked all of them on the map below.
In a car: Enter “Parqueadero MTB Chia Valvanera” into Google Maps or Waze and follow the directions. This is where you can park, and the hike starts by the mountainside where you see a big sign.
To read about another hike literally IN Bogota, click here!
What to do at La Valvanera:
- Like I said before, you can either bike or hike up to the Chapel. Enjoy some wonderful nature while you work those lungs. The hike is half a kilometer long, or about 0.34 miles. There are actually 3 bike routes, from 1 to 2.7 kilometers long, and the shortest one is STEEP. There’s also a gnarly mountain biking descent route.
- Have a picnic at the top. You can either take some food and eat on the grass by the Chapel or buy some delicious traditional Colombian food at the restaurant at the top.
- As long as you’re in Chia, I’d like to recommend two of my favorite restaurants: El Galápago Campestre, for some huge burgers or amazing steaks, and La Magola, for some of the best Colombian bread (pandeyuca and almojabana) and a fermented rice drink called masato.
Some things to know:
Is it safe? Definitely, if you go in the morning, and even more so on the weekends, because you’ll be surrounded by other like-minded hikers and bikers. It can be a little more lonesome in the afternoon, but still safe. At night, it may or not be unsafe, like any place in Colombia, so just go in the morning!
Going up to La Valvanera Chapel is free.
This hike is pet-friendly.
Take really good care of this area. Not that this doesn’t apply to everywhere you go, but the area is actually an indigenous reserve. Don’t risk everyone’s access to this gorgeous spot by littering or being disrespectful.
To see the biking and hiking routes beforehand, I suggest you search for them on Strava. I’ll link you to the most popular bike route, which is the 2 km one, to see distance, altitude, height gained, etc.
Thanks for making it this far! I’d really appreciate it if you watched the YouTube video above to get a feel for the hike. Happy exploring!
