When my husband and I knew we were headed to Perú, I started looking for waterfalls! That’s how I “discovered” the amazing Catarata Gocta, which is over 2500′ tall, though over two portions. Apparently that matters in the world of waterfall height. Getting to Chachapoyas, as I may have mentioned in the post on Gocta Falls, is the more difficult piece of the adventure. Once you’re in the region, seeing a few waterfalls isn’t particularly complicated.
Our flight back to Lima changed after booking, so we had about 6 extra hours to explore. There was a pottery tour near Chachapoyas, but we weren’t particularly interested in that. After looking at the map, I saw Ashpachaca Falls. There aren’t any rental cars that I’m aware of in Chachapoyas, and I wasn’t interested in driving there, so I asked the tour operator if there was a way to have someone drive us to the falls. There was, and it wasn’t outrageously priced…nothing was in Perú.
So we woke up and were on our way to Ashpachaca Falls. It’s on a main road that is mostly paved, so we arrived there after an hour of driving. There is a hike involved to view Ashpachaca Falls. It’s not wildly difficult, but it is consistently uphill for just less than a mile. The whole trail to the falls has concrete stairs, so there isn’t any concern about slipping. It is in the Amazonas region, though higher in elevation. Even then, it was still rather warm and sunny in this area, so you’ll likely end up a bit sweaty!
Once you reach the end of the stairs/trail, you are rewarded with a really beautiful waterfall. Ashpachaca Falls is approximately 200′ tall and surrounded by some stunning rocks. Along the way to the falls and back down, you’ll also be rewarded with an amazing array of beautiful butterflies and moths. I took more pictures of winged insects than the waterfall!
Directions:
- Get to Chachapoyas and find a tour guide. I would recommend Tour Calandria’s and Kuelap Adventure. We used both of them. A note: While Gocta Falls is not far from Ashpachaca Falls, the hike to Gocta Falls took almost the whole day, so it makes sense to visit each on a separate day. There are many other falls in the area but with the winding roads, there’s a limit to how many you can visit each day.
Accessibility: 6/10 (moderate)
Height: ~200′
Length of Hike: 1.6-miles round-trip
Where in the World is Catarata Ashpachaca?
Waterfall Record 
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