The Avenue of Volcanoes

The Avenue of the Volcanoes is a 325 km path stretching between the major Cordilla ranges, surrounded by snow-capped summits and a mystical beauty that, in the past nourished the mythology of early cultures, and later provided an incentive for the conquering Spanish to settle here.

Fifty-five of Ecuador’s Andean peaks are volcanoes. To the west, in the relatively low Cordillera Occidental, stands a line of 19 volcanoes, 7 of them over 15,000 feet high. Lava that flowed from these volcanoes divided the central plateau into 10 major basins. These basins and their adjacent slopes, which are intensively cultivated, are home to roughly half of Ecuador's population. The area also provides mountaineers a rare opportunity to achieve very high altitudes without technical difficulty - an exciting, unforgettable challenge. Here you’ll find Chimborazo, Ecuador’s highest volcano, whose name means "mountain of snow." In the early 19th century, prior to the discovery of Mount Everest, Chimborazo was thought to be the highest mountain in the world.

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