Background for your trip

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

The world’s highest coastal mountain range, and home to four peoples. Visit with respect, and only where it’s allowed.

Mountains
Several days
Moderate
Families: it depends
Organised excursion

From the house: The visitable gateways are Minca (30–60 min by colectivo) and Teyuna (with an operator, several days)

Ask the Tía about this plan

Photo: Rolo Andes · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0 · licence

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the world’s highest coastal mountain range, with two peaks of 5,775 metres, and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1979. Some 70,000 people of the Arhuaco, Kankuamo, Kogui and Wiwa peoples live there. This page isn’t an outing: it’s the background for visiting Tayrona, Minca or Teyuna with an understanding of where you are.

Don’t miss

1Two 5,775-metre peaks within sight of the sea
2The ancestral knowledge system of the four peoples, on UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage list since 2022
3The Línea Negra, the ring of sacred sites around the Sierra
4The mamos, spiritual authorities whose calendar sets the Tayrona and Teyuna closures

What to expect

The Sierra Nevada National Natural Park covers 573,312 hectares, about 96% overlapping indigenous reserves, and is closed to ecotourism. Tourism in the high Sierra — lagoons, páramos and snow peaks — is not allowed, and entering is an environmental offence. That’s why we won’t recommend any “expedition” to the high country.

The mamos are the spiritual authorities of the four peoples. Tayrona’s closures are agreed with them and follow their calendar; the October–November closure coincides with Nabbatashi, a period of spiritual renewal with offerings (pagamentos) at sacred sites. Teyuna also closes every year after the indigenous authorities’ rest period.

The Línea Negra brings together 348 sacred sites around the Sierra. The decree recognising it (Decreto 1500 of 2018) was annulled by the Consejo de Estado on 12 February 2026, and on 28 February the Ministry of the Interior opened a dialogue to draft a new protection decree.

Getting there from the house

Via Minca

The easiest gateway: a mountain village in the Sierra foothills, 30–60 minutes away by colectivo. See the Minca page.

Official source · colombia.travel
Via Teyuna – Ciudad Perdida

Guided only, with an authorised operator, on a multi-day trek. See the Ciudad Perdida page.

Official source · icanh.gov.co

Reference costs

No official rates are published — check prices on site or ask the Tía.

Entry requirements

Yellow-fever vaccine at least 10 days before entering a national park.

Official source parquesnacionales.gov.co
Decreto 2192 of 2023 bans bringing single-use plastics into protected areas and biosphere reserves.

Official source minambiente.gov.co

Closures, hours and weather

The Sierra Nevada NP is listed as “Closed” and “Without ecotourism vocation”. Tourism in the high Sierra is not allowed.

Official source checked 28 Oct 2026 parquesnacionales.gov.co
Tayrona closes three times a year by agreement with the four peoples; in 2026, from 19 October to 2 November, during Nabbatashi. Teyuna closed 1–15 October 2026.

Official source checked 28 Oct 2026 parquesnacionales.gov.co icanh.gov.co

Safety

Respect indigenous families and sacred sites. Ask before photographing people, don’t enter homes, and carry all your rubbish out.

Official source parquesnacionales.gov.co icanh.gov.co

The Tía says

If a place is closed, don’t go looking for the back door, dear. The Sierra deserves respect, and it has plenty of other ways to show itself.

What to bring

Your list: tick what you’ve packed.

Yellow-fever vaccination card
A reusable bottle — no disposable plastic
A bag to carry your rubbish out
Rain gear
Patience and a willingness to listen

Who it suits

For anyone about to set foot in Tayrona, Minca or Teyuna. Reading it first helps you understand why there are closures and why not everything can be visited.

With children: It depends on the way in: Minca works with children; Teyuna isn’t for young children.

Official sources

Tía Chela doesn’t run tours: the house recommends, advises and helps arrange transport. Third-party services are contracted by you directly.

All sources for this page

Reviewed on 28 October 2026. Prices, hours and closures change — confirm before you go.