WHERE FIND BEST NATURE IN ECUADOR [2021]

Protected Areas Ecuador Scoring System

WHERE FIND THE BEST NATURE IN ECUADOR? IN THE 51 PROTECTED AREAS. We score beauty, Access & Wildlife. Check out which score highest

The National Parks System of Ecuador has 51 protected areas of different categories. The differentiation between the different categories often is not all that clear and certainly not a criterion to decide whether or not you could be interested in an area. Some national parks are difficult to get into, while some of the reserves are are so good, that they should really be a national park. With so many parks and reserves to chose from, what really matters to you is which ones are the best. Below you can see the map with all the areas. Click here for:

Printable pdf list of all national parks and protected areas of Ecuador;
Introduction to the National Parks System 2007 by the Ecuador National Parks Service (Spanish only);
Introduction to the National Parks System 2017 by the Ecuador National Parks Service (Spanish only);

Hi, our website gives you information about the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, our Cuyabeno Lodge, and Ecuador in general. Our lodge is located on a small seasonal island in Lake Cuyabeno and thus it is in the most beautiful spot in the most beautiful Amazon reserve of all the Amazon countries. Here you find our program. Our website shows you hundreds of photos and valuable information about Cuyabeno and Ecuador. Clicking on the thumbnails opens the photos in very high resolution.

Best Nature in Ecuador

The Scoring System

We gave a scoring to the areas, so that you may have an idea what could be important areas for you to visit. The scoring is from 1 - 5; the latter being very good, while comparing between these areas in Ecuador, in order to distinguish among them.

While most areas are scenic, some stand out for dramatic landscapes that are not found as abundantly in the other areas. All areas with snow-caped mountains have scored high. Tropical low-land areas score high if there are lakes from where birds and other wildlife can be watched. Access scores a 5 if there is very convenient road-access to good trails or well-organized access over water that can be easily contracted. Ecological interest is based on whether or not a visitor can actually experience and see and experience the biological highlights. Overnight facilities score high if in or very nearby the port of access of an area.

SCORING TABLE * **
	Scenic	Access	Ecological interest	Overnight Facilities
BIOLOGICAL RESERVES
Cerro Plateado Biological Reserve
El Condor Biological Reserve pdf ***	3	1	3	1
El Quimi Biological Reserve pdf
Limon Cocha Biological Reserve pdf	4	5	3	5
ECOLOGICAL RESERVES
Antisana Ecological Reserve pdf	3	2	2	1
Arenilla Ecological Reserve pdf	2	4	1	3
Churute mangrove Ecological Reserve pdf	3	3	4	3
Cofan-Bermejo Ecological Reserve pdf	2	2	2	1
Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve pdf	5	5	4	5
El Angel Ecological Reserve pdf	5	3	5	3
Ilinizas Ecological Reserve pdf	3	3	2	3
Mache Chindul Ecological Reserve pdf	5	2	5	2

FAUNA RESERVES
Chimborazo Fauna Reserve pdf	5	4	5 (vecuñas)	5
Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve **** pdf pdf-visitantes	5	5	5	5
Manglares el Salado Fauna Reserve pdf	2	3	2	2
Puntilla de Santa Elena Fauna Reserve
GEOBOTANICAL RESERVE
Pululahua pdf	5	5	2	5
MARINE RESERVE
Galapagos Biological Marine Marine Reserve pdf	5	5	5	5
Galera-San Francisco Marine Reserve
NATIONAL PARKS
Cajas National Park pdf pdf-visitantes	5	5	4	5
Cayambe Coca National Park pdf	5	3	5	1
Cotopaxi National Park pdf	5	5	3	4
Galapagos NP National Park pdf	5	5	5	5
Llanganates National Park pdf	3	1	3	1
Machalilla National Park pdf	3	5	5	5
Podocarpus National Park pdf	3	3	5	1
Sangay National Park pdf	5	2	5	1
Sumaco-Napo-Galeras National Park pdf	3	1	4	1
Yacuri National Park
Yasuni National Park pdf	3	3	3	1
NATIONAL RECREATION AREAS
Isla Santay National Recreation Area
Los Samanes National Recreation Area
Quimsacocha National Recreation Area
El Boliche National Recreation Area pdf	3	5	3	4
Playas de Villamil National Recreation Area
Lago National Recreation Area pdf	2	5	1	3
WILDLIFE REFUGES
La Chiquita Wildlife Refuge pdf	2	4	2	4
El Pambilar Wildlife Refuge
El Zarra Wildlife Refuge pdf
Isla Corazon and Fragatas Island Wildlife Refuge pdf	2	3	2	2
El Morro Mangroves Wildlife Refuge
Rio Esmeraldas Estuary Mangrove Wildlife Refuge
Rio Muisne Estuary Mangrove Wildlife Refuge pdf	2	2	2	2
Pacoche Coastal Marine Wildlife Refuge
Pasachoa Wildlife Refuge pdf
Santa Clara Island Wildlife Refuge	2	2	2	2
* We have a pdf with the entire list of protected areas of Ecuador. We have an introduction to the protected areas sistem of Ecuador in Spanish. * We have detailed pdf reports in Spanish on a variety of areas that you can download from the respective links. **** The area names with links take you to the corresponding web pages.

BEST NATIONAL PARKS IN ECUADOR
AREA	NATIONAL PARK HIGHLIGHTS
Galapagos National Park	Rather obvious
Cuyabeno Faunistic Reserve	The only low-land Amazon area with lakes and micro channels from where one can observe wildlife and watch birds as well as Amazon Jungle Animals and Amazon Rainforest Plants on Ecuador Amazon Expeditions to Cuyabeno National Park.
Podocarpus National Park	Interesting forest with the only South America coniferous trees
Las Cajas National Park	Very scenic high land paramo landscape with many beautiful lakes
Chimborazo National Park	Besides being the furthest point from the center of the earth, the area has a small herd of introduced vecunas.
Cotopaxi National Park	Beautiful scenic volcano top
Pululahua	Charming volcano close to Quito. Great for a morning visit when chances of decent weather are best
Sangay National Park	With three volcanoes and beautiful lakes, this area can be extremely beautiful, but the skies are rarely clear and the chances of spending all your stay in the fog and drizzling rain are extremely high. Only for very hardy outdoors people.
Cotacachi- Cayapas National Park	A cable cart takes once close to the top of the Pichincha mountain top, part of falls in the Cotacachi Cayapas reserve. Highly recommendable for the fabulous view of Quito.
Machalilla National Park	This area has a very rare transition forest from wet conditions in the North and the Peruvian coastal desert in the south. The landscape has suffered from human intervention, but there are still very valuable pockets of deciduous forests and bottle shaped trees. The beaches are accessible and offer plenty of over-night facilities.
Cayapas Mataje Ecological Reserve	These are the best Mangroves in Ecuador. The area is little visited and it takes a bit of an effort to reach San Lorenzo and find a boat to take you around.

Galapagos National Park, Land Iguana.

Visitor Center Cajas National Park.

Visitors in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve.

Andean Fox in Cotopaxi National Park.

WHERE FIND BEST NATURE IN ECUADOR [2021]

Cuyabeno Lodge:

Shyris Park Building, Av. de los Shyris N36-188 & Av. Naciones Unidas, Office 608, 6th floor, Quito

Phone Office: (++593) (0)(2) 292 6153

Cell (mobile) phone: (++593) (0)999 80 3395

Email: info@cuyabenolodge.com.ec

WHERE FIND BEST NATURE IN ECUADOR [2021]

Protected Areas Ecuador Scoring System

Best Nature in Ecuador

The Scoring System

BIOLOGICAL RESERVES

ECOLOGICAL RESERVES

FAUNA RESERVES

GEOBOTANICAL RESERVE

MARINE RESERVE

NATIONAL PARKS

NATIONAL RECREATION AREAS

WILDLIFE REFUGES

BEST NATIONAL PARKS IN ECUADOR

AREA

Galapagos National Park

Cuyabeno Faunistic Reserve

Podocarpus National Park

Las Cajas National Park

Chimborazo National Park

Cotopaxi National Park

Pululahua

Sangay National Park

Cotacachi-

Cayapas National Park

Machalilla National Park

Cayapas Mataje Ecological Reserve