How to Visit Mindo Cloud Forest from Quito in Ecuador

If you’re planning a visit to Mindo Cloud Forest during your trip to Ecuador, then we’re glad you’ve stumbled upon this post. In this guide you can find everything you’ll need to know about a visit to Mindo.

You’ll find a list of the best things to do there, and answers to some common questions such as how to get to Mindo from Quito, how long to stay for, and why you should bring enough cash with you (very important!).

After visiting the cloud forests of Costa Rica, we knew that we wanted to return to this unique environment again in the future. So, when we realised that we could do that in Ecuador, we didn’t hesitate to add Mindo to our itinerary. We spent 3 days in this beautiful part of the country and had an amazing time despite making the silliest mistake at the start of our trip. Even experienced travellers can get things wrong sometimes! Hopefully, after reading our guide, you’ll learn from our error and have a much smoother experience in Mindo.

If you’d like to see what we got up to in Mindo, then check out our dedicated Mindo video on our YouTube Channel. For more Ecuador videos check out our Ecuador Playlist.

Introducing Mindo and the Cloud Forest

The small village of Mindo sits in a lush valley to the northwest of Quito, behind Pichincha Volcano.

The valley is home to the Mindo-Nambillo Ecological Reserve that has an elevation range between 1,180 m (3,870 ft) and 4,784 m (15,696 ft). At 4,784 m (15,696 ft), Guagua Pichincha Volcano is the highest point in the entire reserve. You can clearly see the peak during your visit to Quito.

Did you know? – Many hikers attempt to summit either Guagua or Pichincha’s other peak Rucu Pichincha. The latter is probably more popular because you can easily access it from Quito’s TeleferiQo.

At 1,250 m (4,100 ft) above sea level, Mindo is at a much more manageable altitude than Quito (2,850 m / 9,350 ft). Our lungs can vouch for that!

The ecological reserve’s main feature is the Mindo-Nambillo Cloud Forest, located just outside of Mindo and covering over 19,000 hectares. The cloud forest and reserve are known for their biological diversity and countless natural attractions.

What is a Cloud Forest?

Now, let us explain what a cloud forest actually is. You may already know, but when we mentioned our visit to the cloud forests to others, not many of them knew exactly what they were.

Cloud forests are wet tropical mountain forests. They are located at much higher altitudes (between 1,000m and 2,500m) and for this reason they’re also much cooler. As the name suggests, these forests have constant cloud cover, usually at canopy level. Cloud forests are actually pretty rare since the conditions that create them can only be found in a few places across the world. Apparently, there are less than 800 cloud forest sites in the world.

Note – Don’t confuse cloud forests with rainforests which are located at much lower elevations. As a result, rainforests are also much warmer. 

Best Things to Do in Mindo

Although Mindo is tiny – so much so that it only has one main street – it’s packed with things to do! Below we’ll detail some of the most popular activities you can choose from during your visit.

1. Chase Waterfalls Along the Ruta de las Cascadas

A hike that offers seven (we repeat, seven) different waterfalls is a must do hike in our opinion.

Nambillo Ecological Reserve is home to many waterfalls, but this small portion of the reserve is a waterfall paradise. Within a few hours of hiking, you’ll get to see some really beautiful falls whilst enjoying being in the lush cloud forest. So, instead of listening to the song, take our advice and go chase some real-life waterfalls whilst in Mindo.

You can get to the trailhead from Mindo centre by taxi or on foot. We recommend taking a taxi, because the walk can take up to an hour and it’s all uphill. A one-way taxi ride is around $6 USD.

The taxi will drop you off at the Tarabita station where you can jump into an old looking yellow basket that will zip you across the valley to the trailhead.

Entry fee: There isn’t an entry fee per se, but you’ll have to pay $5 USD per person for a return Tarabita ride.

2. Zip Across Rio Nambillo in a Tarabita

This old looking yellow basket, commonly known as a Tarabita, is one of the shortest activities you can do whilst in Mindo. It is also the quickest way to reach the start of the waterfall hike.

A tarabita is basically a hanging basket that carries people across a valley. It functions like a cable car, but transports people horizontally and will feel more like a zip line because it goes much faster than any cable car would.

It’s basically perfect for people like me, who are terrified by the thought of zip lines, but don’t actually mind a bit of an adrenaline rush. For some reason dangling in the air in a harness and helmet freaks me out, but sitting in an old open basket and having something under my feet gives me a false sense of security. Each to their own they say!

You can get to the tarabita station with a taxi from Mindo centre or by walking. We recommend taking a taxi because the way there is all uphill and would take you around an hour. A one-way taxi ride costs around $6 USD.

Cost: A return ticket is $5 USD per person, which might seem pricey, but it also includes your ticket to the cloud forest reserve. The ride itself only takes a few minutes. The tarabita is open between 8:30AM and 5:30PM.

3. Go on an Early Morning Bird Watching Adventure

Okay, bird watching might seem like an activity only a handful of people would enjoy. However, there’s a very special bird here called the Cock of the Rock that makes even non-bird enthusiasts get up at the crack of dawn.

These brightly coloured birds with their fan-like crests live in quite a few countries across South America. They’re generally known to be shy and hard to spot in the dense forests. However, you can spot them a little more regularly in Mindo Cloud Forest. Other than their striking appearance, what brings people (especially bird watchers) to Mindo from all over the world is their unique mating performance called a lek.

The male birds gather at a tree at dusk and dawn to compete with each other. This is essentially the way they find a female to mate with. The lek includes things like head-bobbing and wing-flapping and the whole performance lasts about 20 minutes. Luckily, experienced guides in Mindo know exactly where and when to go to witness it.

Obviously there are plenty of other beautiful birds you can spot in Mindo, such as toucans and hummingbirds.

We recommend signing up for a tour in Mindo if you’d like to see the Cock of the Rock’s performance. Unfortunately, due to our initial money problems we had to skip this activity, which we’re still gutted about!

4. Feed Butterflies at a Mariposario

As you can imagine, the wildlife in Mindo Cloud Forest is very diverse. So, other than bird watching, you can also visit one of Mindo’s butterfly sanctuaries.

The most popular one is called Mariposas de Mindo, located a few miles outside the centre. You can reach the site on foot or take a short taxi ride which should only cost you a few dollars.

Once you’ve bought your ticket one of the workers will take you on a short tour, showing you all the chrysalis’ and telling you a bit more about butterflies. After that introduction you can enter the butterfly garden and enjoy hundreds of colourful butterflies flying around you.

The best part is that you can put some over-ripe (well, basically rotten) banana on your fingers and let the butterflies come to you to munch on it. Butterflies love a good sweet treat, so apparently they go wild for rotten banana.

You’ll see plenty of different types of butterflies in this sanctuary, but our favourite were the Blue Morpho butterflies. With enough patience, we managed to get some pretty cool photos of them.

Entry Fee – $7.50 USD per adult and $4 USD per child. They’re open every day between 9AM and 4PM, but will close at 2PM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Top Tip – If you don’t want to have what we now call ‘Mindo-legs’ try to wear long trousers. I had my ankles out and some small black flies ate the heck out of that inch of exposed skin. The encounter resulted in two very itchy and swollen ankles for days.

There’s also a smaller sanctuary in the centre of the village called Mariposario Nathaly Mindo. It’s not as popular, but it’ll still provide you with an excellent experience.

5. Indulge Your Sweet Cravings on a Chocolate Tour

When in Ecuador, you can’t skip going on a chocolate tour. If you didn’t know, Ecuadorian chocolate is considered the best in the world. This is because one of the finest and most aromatic varieties of cacao, Arriba Cacao, is grown in Ecuador. It was originally found in the Amazon and some believe that it was already being used over 5,000 years ago.

Ecuador produces over 70% of the highest quality cacao in the world, even though overall they produce less than 10% of the world’s total cacao.

Probably the most popular chocolate tour is offered by a place called El Quetzal de Mindo. They offer a ‘bean to bar’ kind of experience, starting with a walk through their small farm. Then you can see the chocolate-making process in action, before getting a very generous taste test.

We had an absolute blast experimenting with many different flavours. They definitely gave us more chocolate to sample than our blood sugar levels needed. Not to mention the most delicious brownie at the end. We have zero regrets though!

Tour Cost – $10 USD per person. They’re open every day between 8AM and 5PM.

6. Join an Adrenaline Fuelled Activity

If you’re after something a bit more adventurous, then Mindo won’t disappoint you.

In case the 2-minute Tarabita ride wasn’t satisfying enough, you can definitely go on a zip lining excursion. You can book a tour in Mindo with one of the many companies, as they operate them multiple times a day. The weather can be a bit rainier in the afternoons, so maybe go in the morning if you can.

If you enjoy water activities, then consider signing up for tubing or white water rafting. We also noticed options for bike hire and ATV tours.

7. Walk Around Mindo Cloud Forest at Night

As the sun sets, the night creatures will begin to emerge. So, if you’d like to get the chance to explore the cloud forest at night and see more of Ecuador’s wildlife, then make sure to join a night walk.

Having just returned from the Amazon Jungle, it’s safe to say that we’d had our fair share of wildlife and night walks. We also went on a few night walks in Costa Rica, so we decided to skip it in Mindo.

However, if it’s your first time in the cloud forest, we cannot recommend joining a night tour enough. We found this Mindo night walk tour that’s got a bunch of good reviews. Walking around the dense forest during the day and at night is a completely different experience. With the help of a guide you’ll be able to spot even the tiniest creatures in the dark. Night walks definitely pushed us out of our comfort zones and quickly became one of our most cherished experiences.

8. Enjoy the Sounds of a Frog Concert

Okay, before you start thinking too much into this; no, there’s not going to be a choir of frogs or animal cruelty involved either. This activity is going to be similar to a night walk, but it’s held at the Lago Mindo Hotel’s garden.

The frog concert element of this activity comes from the fact that the garden has a lot of loud frogs in it, which at night can sound a little like a concert. You’ll basically be wandering around with a local guide who will try to spot some night creatures and tell you more about the animals.

Tour cost – $6USD per person. You can reserve your spot by messaging the hotel. The ‘concert’ starts between 6:30 – 7PM every evening and lasts about an hour. Note that the tour will be in Spanish, although you may have an introduction in both Spanish and English.

The hotel is about a 30-minute walk from the centre, so you can take a short taxi ride or walk. Although we don’t suggest walking on your own at night outside the centre.

We read that it can be quite busy during the weekends and at peak times, so you might want to time your visit on a weekday. After losing an entire day due to not having enough cash, we had to miss out on the ‘frog concert’. If you decide to go make sure to tell us about your experience because we’re super curious!

How to Get to Mindo Cloud Forest from Quito

The best way to get to Mindo is by public bus. Buses to Mindo leave from one of Quito’s northern bus stations called Terminal Terrestre La Ofelia.

La Ofelia station is the last stop along the Metrobus line. Depending on where you’re staying, you can find the closest bus stop to you on Quito’s bus route map. You can hop onto the Trolebus line too and go all the way to Terminal Interprovincial Carcelen. From there you can transfer to a bus to La Ofelia station without buying a new ticket. One bus ticket is $0.35 USD.

If you have a lot of luggage, you can also take a taxi or Uber to the bus station. It can cost anywhere between $7-10 USD depending on traffic and distance.

The only bus company that travels to Mindo is called Flor de Valle. The bus leaves Quito at 8AM, 9AM, 11AM and 4PM from Monday to Friday. During the weekends, there’s also an additional bus leaving Quito at 1PM.

If you’re heading back to Quito, the bus leaves Mindo at 6:30AM, 11AM, 3:15PM and 5PM from Monday to Friday, and there’s an extra one at 4PM on weekends. Make sure to take a photo of the current bus schedule, which should be displayed in both Quito and Mindo.

A one-way bus ticket costs less than $4 USD per person. The journey takes around 2 hours, traffic dependent. The bus won’t have any toilets and won’t have rest stops either.

Top Tip. Pickpocketing is not uncommon on buses. Make sure to stay vigilant and keep all your valuables in your backpack. Keep it on your lap instead of on the floor or in an overhead compartment.

How Long Do you Need in Mindo Cloud Forest

Whilst we appreciate that you may not be spending a long time in Ecuador, we highly recommend allocating at least 2 days to Mindo. Being so close to nature after walking around a busy city like Quito will feel like a well needed retreat.

Since some of the above mentioned activities will take place either very early in the morning or later at night, you won’t have trouble maximising you days in Mindo. You can go bird watching at the crack of dawn and finish the day with a night walk or frog concert. During the day you can chase waterfalls, feed butterflies or treat yourself to some of the best chocolate.

Just bear in mind that you’ll likely need to allocate most of one day if you want to complete the full waterfall hike. Of course you can just visit a smaller section if you’re not a keen hiker and sign up for other activities in the afternoon.

If your schedule is very tight, then you can always check out some day tours leaving from Quito.

Travel Tips for Visiting Mindo Cloud Forest

Bring enough cash! One of our most important tips for visiting Mindo Cloud Forest is to bring enough cash with you. There aren’t many ATMs and a lot of the time your foreign money card won’t work or the ATM itself will be out of money.

You’ll see many signs saying Banco Pichincha at random places like beauty salons. These places offer cash back services. However, those would only accept Ecuadorian bank cards. Most shops and smaller eateries only accept cash too. You can pay by card in a few of the restaurants, but none of our bank cards worked with their machines, not even our trusted Wise card. This was really the only time we struggled to pay with it though!

Since we didn’t have enough cash on us, we had to waste an entire day traveling back to Quito to get enough cash out for our final two days in Mindo. Learn from our mistake and come prepared. Also, let us know if the situation has changed.

You might be walking a lot. It’s easy to get to some of the attractions by taxi from the centre. However, unless you arrange a pick up time with the driver, you’ll be pretty lucky to find a ride back to Mindo. We had to walk back from both the waterfall trail and the butterfly sanctuary. It was absolutely fine (and luckily mostly flat or downhill) but if you don’t want to add an extra few miles to your day, then arrange a taxi pick up.

Bring waterproofs. Needless to say that a cloud forest is a place where it rains a lot. So, come prepared and don’t forget to take your waterproofs, especially when going hiking.

Where to Eat in Mindo

For such a small village, there are actually a lot of places you can eat in Mindo. Most eateries are located along the main road. There are lots of cafes, like Mindo Forest, where you can get some breakfast. Many places, such as Minroot Restaurante, also serve lunch menus or ‘almuerzos’.

You can definitely find plenty of traditional Ecuadorian meals but if you’ve been on the road for a while and want something different then try La Mecha Ristorante which is a fantastic Italian place. We even walked past a place called Crepes-Art Mindo that looked like they served incredible crepes.

At the time of our visit, there were a few places accepting cards, but most of the time our cards didn’t work. Make sure to have enough cash with you.

Final Thoughts on Visiting Mindo Cloud Forest

Despite the little hiccup at the start, we absolutely loved our time in Mindo. Being back in the cloud forest brought back all the lovely memories from our Costa Rica trip. We had a lot of fun hiking the waterfall trail and eating way too much on our chocolate tour. Speaking of which, I could definitely have a slice of that brownie again!

Mindo has a lot to offer its visitors, so if you were on the fence at the start of reading this post, we hope that you’re now totally convinced to travel to Mindo.

Have you ever been to Mindo Cloud Forest in Ecuador before? If so, how was your experience? What did you do? If not, would you add Mindo to your Ecuador itinerary? Let us know in the comments below.