Outdoors and Nature Spots
Hills, reserves, rivers and parks to make the most of nature in Medellín.
- 19 places
- 11 zones
- 7 categories
- average
Top ratedJardín Botánico de MedellínAranjuezThe Joaquín Antonio Uribe Botanical Garden occupies fifteen hectares in the north of Medellín, facing Parque Explora and a step from the Universidad metro station. It is one of the few large botanical gardens in Latin America with free entry.- Top ratedParque Natural Cerro El VoladorRobledo / San GermánCerro El Volador is the largest metropolitan regional nature park inside Medellín's urban area: 103 hectares rising to 1,628 metres in the centre-west of the city, in Comuna 7.
Parques del RíoEl Chagualo / LaurelesParques del Río gave the city back a piece of its river. The project buried a stretch of motorway and covered the slab with a linear park integrating both banks: some 72,000 square metres, more than half of it green, with 280 trees planted.
RecommendedParque ArvíSanta ElenaParque Arví is the reserve crowning the Aburrá valley, in the Piedras Blancas hamlet of the Santa Elena district. You get there by metro and then the Cable Arví, and that ride over the cloud forest is already part of the plan.
Parque EcoTuristico El SaladoEnvigadoEl Salado covers 170,000 square metres in the El Vallano hamlet, in the high rural belt of Envigado, and is one of the largest ecological parks in Antioquia.
Cerro QuitasolBelloEl Quitasol closes the Aburrá valley to the north with a pyramid silhouette visible from half of Medellín, and it is Bello's guardian mountain: 2,800 metres at the summit.
Mirador de San FelixBelloSan Félix is Bello's high district, about forty minutes by car from Medellín, and its viewpoint is one of the best panoramas in the metropolitan area: from there the Aburrá valley reads whole, with the city spread out below.
Parque de los Pies DescalzosLa AlpujarraParque de los Pies Descalzos came from a simple and unusual idea for an urban park: that you walk it without shoes. It was designed by the architect Felipe Uribe de Bedout for EPM, and is organised in three zones you cross in that order.- Top ratedRefugio De Vida Silvestre Del Alto De San MiguelCaldasAlto de San Miguel is where the Medellín river begins, and that fact alone justifies the climb. There is no single spring: the river forms from the meeting of five streams — La Vieja, La González, La Moladora, El Tesoro and Santa Isabel — and the reserve is where the water supplying much of the valley is captured and regulated.
- Top ratedGlamping Ancestros EcoparqueNorte del ValleAncestros combines accommodation and activities in the El Palmar hamlet, in the hills of Girardota, and works both ways: you can sleep there or go up just for the day.
- Santuario De La CruzNorte del ValleThe Santuario de la Cruz crowns a hill in the El Cabuyal hamlet, in Copacabana, with a metal structure some twenty-five metres tall that is visible from the valley.
- Top ratedAlto de La CruzCaldasAlto de la Cruz is Caldas' short climb: about thirty minutes on foot from the main square, on a moderate path with steep stretches that tops out at 2,168 metres.
- Parque Lineal La PresidentaEl PobladoLa Presidenta is El Poblado's green corridor: a linear park of some twenty thousand square metres following the course of the stream it is named after, in the middle of one of the most built-up and busiest parts of the city.
- Truchera Playa RicaSan Antonio de PradoPlaya Rica is a country trout farm in the El Salado hamlet, about fifteen minutes from the square of San Antonio de Prado, and its appeal lies in the order of things: first you catch the trout in its ponds, then the kitchen prepares it however you ask.
- Los Charcos de El BrujoNorte del ValleEl Brujo is the best known natural bathing spot in Barbosa, in the Dos Quebradas hamlet, barely a kilometre from town along the road towards Porce.
- La Laguna Encantada, reserva natural el romeralNorte del ValleLa Laguna Encantada is a natural body of water on the ridge of the El Romeral reserve, and reaching it is one of the most demanding walks you can do without leaving the metropolitan area.
- La Palma Mirador GastropubBelloLa Palma sits on the climb to San Félix, less than five kilometres from Bello, on the stretch where the road starts to open out over the valley. That is its calling card: the view, with Medellín in the distance and hillside all around.
- Morro de la virgen Barbosa AntioquiaNorte del ValleMorro de la Virgen is Barbosa's go-to viewpoint: a short hill you climb in about twenty minutes on a well-marked path, with the whole town laid out below.
- Parque Comfama La EstrellaNorte del ValleThe Comfama park in La Estrella is the large recreation facility of the southern valley, on Calle 87 Sur.
Before you go
Medellín is called the city of eternal spring, and this collection is for making the most of that climate: places where the plan is simply being outside, from a short walk along a linear park to a weekend of glamping in Girardota. It includes Parques del Río and La Presidenta within the city, hills with trails such as El Volador or Quitasol, mountain reserves, natural pools in Barbosa and even a trout farm in San Antonio de Prado for lunch by the water.
The clock decides the day. Mornings are usually clear and fresh, perfect for walking or cycling; towards the afternoon the sky builds up and rain is common, sometimes heavy, and it often clears around nightfall. So it pays to start long plans early, while short ones within the city work at any time of day. Across the year there are wetter and drier seasons, but the valley never gets extremely cold or hot.
Almost everything on this list is free or cheap. Dress in layers, because the temperature changes a lot between the valley floor and the higher ground, and respect the signs at rivers and reserves.
