Puracé National Natural Park, National park in Cauca Department, Colombia.
Puracé National Natural Park covers the Coconucos volcanic chain in the Central Cordillera, including the active Puracé stratovolcano at 4,580 m and the Paletará valley at its foot. The landscape rises from grassy pastures and wooded slopes to a high ridgeline, with a cluster of white buildings on the mid-ground slopes. A stream of pale, whitish water runs between dark stone slabs and greyish-white rock ledges, edged with ferns and dry grass.
Established in 1961, this was the first protected natural area in the department. Eighteen years later, the area received designation as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
The park overlaps the resguardo indígena of the Coconuco people in the Pilimbalá sector, where the community itself provides lodging and typical food. A Guambiano settlement also lies within the area of influence. The Coconuco name belongs to one of the volcanoes in the Coconucos chain, not to a coconut.
Access is through the Pan-American Highway from Popayán, with warm clothing necessary even during summer months. Higher elevations often sit in fog, so an early morning start is recommended.
Four major rivers—the Magdalena, Cauca, Patía, and Japurá—all originate within this territory. Their source streams begin in the cold lakes and bogs of the high mountains.
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