Qualla: Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park

Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park: Introduction

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador, CC BY-SA 2.0. Volcan Sumaco last erupted around 1895, or close to it, or possibly somewhat later. The date is a scholarly estimate because nobody saw the eruption happen. The volcano sits so deep in Amazon jungle, so far from any road or village, that its most recent fit went entirely unrecorded. Geologists reconstructed the event from lava flows and ash deposits long after the fact. Sumaco is unlike any other Ecuadorian volcano in another sense too: it stands apart from the Andean spine, and geochemical analysis shows its lavas come from a different deep source than any other volcano in the country. It is, in the language of volcanology, an outlier.

Image: Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador | CC BY-SA 2.0

Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park: A Park Without Roads

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Christian Mehlführer, User:Chmehl, CC BY 2.5. Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park covers more than 200,000 hectares of Amazonian Ecuador, about 100 kilometers southeast of Quito. The park was created in 1994 and UNESCO added it to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2000. There are highways around the park's perimeter, ...

Image: Christian Mehlführer, User:Chmehl | CC BY 2.5

Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park: Eight Hundred Bird Species

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador, CC BY-SA 2.0. What the park lacks in infrastructure it compensates for in biological density. More than 830 bird species have been cataloged within its boundaries, placing Sumaco among the most diverse parks on Earth. The number is remarkable partly because most of the park has never been syst...

Image: Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador | CC BY-SA 2.0

Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park: The Volcano in the Trees

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador, CC BY-SA 2.0. Sumaco rises to 3,990 meters, tall enough to break free of the lower forest and wear a ring of high-elevation cloud forest and paramo near the summit. The crater at the top is broad and largely overgrown with jungle foliage, which does not happen on many volcanoes. A small crater...

Image: Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador | CC BY-SA 2.0

Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park: Before You Go

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador, CC BY-SA 2.0. Sumaco is for travelers with backcountry experience. Tour operators in Quito can arrange guided treks that include ground transportation and local guides in the park, and this is how most visitors approach the area. Bring everything: food, shelter, fuel, water purification. Plan ...

Image: Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador | CC BY-SA 2.0