Before our Ciudad Perdida trek in Colombia, we read everything we could find. We wanted practical, up-to-date Ciudad Perdida trek tips that would help us understand the difficulty, what to pack, what the camps were really like, and what we could safely leave behind.
Some of the Lost City trek advice we found was helpful, but a lot of the top-ranking posts were a little outdated. Because of that, we packed a few things we didn’t actually need. And when you’re hiking for several days through the Colombian jungle, every bit of extra weight matters.
That’s why we put this Lost City trek guide together. These are the practical, first-hand tips we wish we had before starting the trek to Ciudad Perdida, including what the trail is really like, what to expect at the camps, how much food and water you’ll get, what the river crossings are like, and which packing advice may no longer apply.
This is not a family-focused guide, but for background, we completed the Lost City Trek with kids on a 6-day private tour with Magic Tour Colombia, instead of the typical 4-day group trek. Having six days on the trail gave us plenty of time to take notes, ask questions, and notice the little details that can make a big difference when you’re preparing for this hike.
Our goal is simple: to help you feel more confident, pack smarter, and know what to expect before you set off on the Ciudad Perdida hike.
This post contains compensated links.
Ciudad Perdida Trek Difficulty: How Hard Is the Lost City Hike?
The Ciudad Perdida trek is challenging, but doable for many hikers who are in decent shape and have a good level of determination. I’d estimate less than 5% of the hikers on the Lost City trail looked regretful for being there.
Lost City Colombia Trek Distance, Elevation and Daily Hiking Stats
Each Lost City tour will have its own itinerary, mainly depending on how many days you have. Based on our Ciudad Perdida trek, here are the distance and elevation gain stats for each trek between camps. You’ll need to adjust for your trip’s itinerary.
- El Mamey to Camp 1: 5 miles (8 km) long with 1,560 feet (475 m) total elevation gain.
- Camp 1 to Camp 2: 4.2 miles (6.7 km) long with 900 feet (275 m) total elevation gain.
- Camp 2 to Paradise Camp 3: 4.7 miles (7.6 km) long with 1,490 feet (455 m) total elevation gain.
- Paradise Camp 3 to Lost City to Camp 3: 2.7 miles (4.3 km) long with 835 feet (235 m) total elevation gain.
- Paradise Camp 3 to Camp 2: 4.7 miles (7.6 km) long with 475 feet (145 m) total elevation gain.
- Camp 2 to Camp 1: 4.2 miles (6.7 km) long with 965 feet (295 m) total elevation gain.
- Camp 1 to El Mamey: 5 miles (8 km) long with 805 feet (245 m) total elevation gain.
How Hard Are the 1,200 Stairs to Ciudad Perdida?
The final leg of the Ciudad Perdida hike is what intimidates a lot of people, and rightfully so… I mean, there are 1,200 steps to the top! But what’s it really like hiking to the Lost City?
After leaving Camp 3, the Lost City trail follows the river and is really beautiful. Before long, you will arrive at the one spot along the entire trek where you will have to get your feet wet.
The 1,200 steps to the Lost City begin after the river. I’ll give it to you straight… the steps are small, steep and constant. There are very few breaks; they just go straight up and up and up. Your total elevation gain while climbing the Ciudad Perdida steps is approximately 650 feet (200 m).
That may sound bad to some, but with a little focus and effort, it’s over before you know it. It took us just over 40 minutes to climb the 1,200 steps from the bottom to the top. And, keep in mind, our four year old did it all by himself, so you can too!
Facilities on the Ciudad Perdida Trek
The less stuff you can bring with you to Ciudad Perdida, the better. If you want to support the local communities along the trail, you can leave some stuff at home and buy what you need along the way. Sure, the prices will be a bit higher here than elsewhere, but let’s face it, we can all afford to spend $2 on a roll of toilet paper…
To help you plan what to pack on the Ciudad Perdida trek, here is a listing of all the stores and facilities along the trail to the Lost City:
Facilities at El Mamey
Your Lost City adventure will begin with a very, very bumpy 4×4 ride up a mountain to the village of El Mamey, also known as Machete Pelao, where you will begin your Ciudad Perdida trek. There are tons of stores here selling virtually everything you’ll need for the Lost City trek. Don’t expect to find unusual or hard-to-find hiking gear here, though.
Facilities Between El Mamey and Camp 1
This is the most well-supplied leg of the Ciudad Perdida trek, with three stores along the way. They can be found approximately at 2 miles, 3.5 miles and 3.6 miles (3.2 km, 5.6 km and 5.8k m).
There is a very popular fresh squeezed orange juice stand in-between the first and second stores. The orange juice is only 5,000 Colombian Pesos per cup, so be sure to stop and rehydrate.
The final store is at the 3.6 mile (5.8 km) mark and is just below the first summit of the Ciudad Perdida hike. Here some groups will enjoy some free watermelon (depending on whether your guide arranges this or not).
At the summit, there is a little store where you can try and buy roasted cocoa beans or pods of prepared cocoa paste.
Facilities Between Camp 1 and Camp 2
There is a village near the high point on this leg at approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 km), where you may get to enjoy free watermelon again. You can also buy orange juice, drinks, snacks and some handicraft souvenirs. Bathrooms are available for 2,000 COP.
There is another little store at the indigenous village at the 3.4 mile (5.5 km) mark. Some groups will stop here to listen to an indigenous person give a short talk about their culture.
On our trek, our Camp 2 was operated by Wiwa community members. You can go river swimming here, get a massage and shop at their store.
We had a chance to leave any unneeded hiking gear behind at Camp 2 and then pick it up on the way back. Although it was tempting to drop some weight, we decided it wasn’t worth repacking. If you think about it ahead of time, you could plan a Camp 2 packing strategy before you go.
Facilities Between Camp 2 and Camp 3
This is the least supplied leg of the Lost City hike with only one store between camps 2 & 3, found at the highest point on this leg. Those looking for some contact with the outside world, can also pay for Wi-Fi here.
Paradise Camp (Camp 3) offers massages, a well-stocked store and an opportunity to go swimming in the river.
Food and Drinking Water on the Ciudad Perdida Trek
We always worry a little bit when the food supply situation is out of our control, but we’re happy to report the food along the Lost City trek was plentiful and delicious. To give you a feel for the meals served on the Lost City hike, here’s what we ate along the way…
Lost City Breakfasts
- Camp 1: eggs, toasted cheese sandwich, toast with strawberry jam, pineapple and papaya.
- Camp 2: a plate of pineapple, papaya and cantaloupe followed by eggs and toast.
- Paradise Camp 3: cheese arepas with sour cream, sausage, pineapple, papaya, cantaloupe.
- Camp 2: arepas with cheese, toast, pineapple, cantaloupe, papaya.
- Camp 1: cheese empanadas and eggs, pineapple, papaya and cantaloupe.
Coffee is available at every camp. The only dairy option is powdered creamer.
Lost City Trek Lunches
- El Mamey: pre-trek lunch at an outdoor restaurant. We ate salsa chicken, beans, rice, plantain, onion and tomato salad (Caution: we got more mosquito bites here than on the rest of the trek! Dig out your insect repellent before going in!).
- Camp 2: beef vegetable soup with rice and Milo chocolate cookies.
- Paradise Camp 3: spaghetti with meat sauce.
- Camp 2: salsa chicken, rice, root vegetable soup.
- Camp 1: sausage, rice, salad, beans.
Lost City Trek Dinners
- Camp 1: a huge plate of avocado slices, a whole (head-on) fried fish, rice, plantain and salad. GOL chocolate bars for dessert.
- Camp 2: chicken fillet and french fries. GOL chocolate bars.
- Paradise Camp 3: salsa chicken, rice, potato & Guava candy.
- Camp 2: steak, yucca, carrots and green beans. GOL chocolate bars for dessert.
- Camp 1: steak, mashed potatoes, salad, large brownie.
Drinking Water on the Lost City Trek
Purified drinking water is provided free of charge at each camp. We had read many reports of the provided drinking water tasting bad due to the purification tablets, but we thought the water tasted perfectly fine. We saw evidence of modern water filtration systems at most of the camps, so this could be one reason why.
River Crossings on the Lost City Trek
Our pre-trip research highlighted the need to bring sports sandals due to the large number of rivers you need to cross on foot. This is completely outdated information as many new bridges have been built along the trail.
Our Lost City guide assured us that unless you get unusually unlucky, if you are hiking during the dry season, you will be able to keep your feet dry crossing most streams by jumping across large rocks. Recent upgrades to the Ciudad Perdida trail mean there are now bridges across all the rivers, except one.
There is only one river crossing left which still requires you to get your feet wet, found between Camp 3 and the climb to Ciudad Perdida. There are two ropes spanning the river which you use for balance.
Water levels will vary for each trip, but for us it was up to the middle of our thighs. We used our sports sandals, but we could have crossed barefoot (as our English translator did).
We love our Keen sports sandals, but had we known this, we would have left four pairs at home and simply walked across the river in our bare feet.
Ciudad Perdida Trail Conditions in Dry Season
A lot of blog posts talk about how muddy it is along the Ciudad Perdida trail, but again, this can be a bit misleading. When did they do their hike, was it during rainy season?
Here’s what you need to know about the Lost City trail conditions in dry season:
Rain, Mud and Trail Conditions
This is tropical jungle, so it can and will rain at any time. It rained on us on two afternoons, after we got into camp. One rainfall was short and very hard, while the other lasted a few hours. All the camps are well protected against the rain, but your stuff may still get wet if you are hanging it to dry on a clothesline and forget to bring it in.
We were also well prepared with covers for our backpacks plus large garbage bags to further protect our contents, if it rained while we were hiking. We added a few extra large Ziploc bags to keep wet clothes separate too. While the Ziploc bags were useful for keeping our clothes organized, we didn’t need any of them to keep our clothes dry.
You’ll encounter virtually every type of trail condition along the way, so it’s essential you have a good pair of hiking shoes. Be sure to break them in well ahead of time, as this is not a great time to get blisters from your new boots.
Despite the rain we encountered, the Ciudad Perdida trail was mostly dry, although we did encounter a few muddy sections. Most of the time there will be a dry trail around the muddy sections, but there may be a few spots where mud can’t be avoided. Be careful in these spots, as the trail is mostly clay and it’s very slippery when wet. Most of us fell at least once in the mud.
The section of the Lost City trail between camps 2 & 3 is the leg we found most challenging. You’ll find yourself stepping over many large rocks and constantly watching your step due to large tree roots jutting out of the ground.
Speaking of trail conditions, I was happy to see how clean the trail was. There was virtually no garbage or plastic water bottles along the sides of the trail. Having hiked many popular treks before, this is not often the case, so please do your part to help keep the Ciudad Perdida trek clean.
What to Expect at the Lost City Trek Camps
Beds and Mosquito Nets
The beds in the Ciudad Perdida camps are typically long rows of bunk beds.
The quality of the bedding ranged from well-worn to quite new. The pillows were well used and quite flat. Reports of the blankets and pillows being smelly were untrue.
Each bed has mosquito netting all around, which you tuck under your mattress to keep it tight. This does a good job of keeping the bugs out of your bed.
Showers
There are multiple single-stall showers at each camp. The line-ups for the showers are often short and manageable. The water is so cold it might make you scream, but the shock wears off quickly. Soon you’ll be enjoying a chance to cool off after a long day of hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains under the scorching Colombian sun.
Toilets and Toilet Paper
The quality of the toilets in the Lost City camps is hit-or-miss. Many toilets in the men’s washrooms were missing seats, and people often didn’t respect the men’s versus women’s washrooms. Be prepared to wipe down the seat before you go…
We heard toilet paper wasn’t provided at the Lost City camps, so we packed our own. Sure enough, there was often no toilet paper provided at the camp, so we used the two full rolls that we brought from home.
Sleep, Noise and Early Mornings
Don’t expect to get a lot of sleep while trekking to Ciudad Perdida. It’s not due to partying or people making noise though…
On a typical night, the lights get turned out in camp between 8:30 – 9:00 pm. Almost everyone goes into their bed at this time and it gets very quiet.
Dogs will bark throughout the night and roosters will start crowing anytime after 3 am. And just when you fall back asleep from the roosters, the camp lights get turned on every morning between 4:45 – 5:30 am.
Overnight Temperatures
We had read many reports about how cold it can get at night along this trek. We’re from Canada, where we know a little something about being cold. We were curious whether we’d think it was actually cold or not.
The temperature was always quite warm as we went to sleep, but it did get chilly in the wee hours of the morning. We could have survived with the thin sheets provided, but on most nights we also pulled up the additional fleece blankets provided by the camps. We had packed fleece hoodies to wear overnight (not knowing about the provided fleece blankets), so we didn’t end up using them.
Camp Stores
The stores found in each camp are small, but well stocked. A sample of items you can expect to find are snacks, bug spray, feminine hygiene products, sunscreen, towels, toothpaste, deodorant, smokes, toilet paper, booze, cookies, crackers, flip flops, etc.
Bugs, Scorpions and Other Critters
The Lost City hike is in the Colombian jungle, so there will be critters in camp. We read many articles advising you to turn over your shoes in the morning as scorpions like to find a warm bed inside.
Everyone’s experience will be different, but there were no reported scorpions on our trip. It’s probably still a good idea to empty your shoes in the morning just in case.
We only have two stories about jungle bugs from our Lost City hike:
On our first night in a Lost City camp, there was a black tarantula hanging out on the bathroom wall during our first night at Camp 1. He never bothered anyone, but it was creepy and unsettling nonetheless.
One night we were woken by a guy walking back-and-forth over-and-over with his headlamp on. Not able to sleep, Celine went to the bathroom and the guy approached her looking for tweezers because he had found a tick in his leg. We loaned him our tweezers and we all went back to sleep.
Practical Camp Tips
When you arrive at camp, hang your clothes on a clothesline that’s covered by a roof. It can often rain in the late afternoon / early evening and anyone drying their clothes outdoors will have to run and grab them before they get even more wet.
Try to sleep away from washrooms. Sleep too close and you’ll be woken by the headlamps of people walking to the bathroom and then again by the noise of doors opening/closing, toilets flushing, etc.
Ciudad Perdida Tour Companies and Booking Rules
Access to Ciudad Perdida is regulated, and hikers must visit with an authorized operator or authorized guide. Solo hiking is not permitted. For most travellers, joining a group tour with an authorized tour operator makes the most sense.
We hired Magic Tour Colombia for our 6 day private tour. We were very impressed with Magic Tour Colombia and would recommend them to you. The service was great, we loved our guide and translator, the food was excellent and plentiful. (We paid for the tour and won’t earn a commission for this referral).
Follow Along on our Family Trip to Colombia
We began our 3.5 week family trip to Colombia with a few days in Rodadero with kids. Staying at this beach-front resort town was a nice way to get settled before beginning out Lost City trek with kids.
After the Lost City hike, we returned to Rodadero, where we visited Tayrona National Park with kids, before moving on to spend a few days in the jungle at Minca with kids.
Our Travel Journal for Kids
Based on our family travels, our kids helped us design this Travel Journal for Active Kids! This engaging travel journal encourages kids to document their adventures, spark creativity, and stay entertained on the go – grab yours now on Amazon!
