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Medellin Arví Park
The Arví Park, also known as the Regional Ecotourism Park, is a natural wealth of Medellín. It was declared a protective forest reserve in 1970. It is a public space that offers a wide variety of experiences for all tastes. From there, you manage to make tangible the limits of the urban and the rural within the same city.
The Arví Park has 16,000 hectares, thus offering a significant natural space, in which it exalts the potentialities and strengths of the sector in which it is located. It offers the possibility of discovering the magic of its cultural and environmental wealth, the entrepreneurship of its people, and its archaeological heritage. Through a proposal of ecological, natural, and sustainable tourism, it places great attributes of the city in the same place.
In this magical place, you can breathe fresh air, enjoy the landscape beauty of the territory from the different natural viewpoints, and spend a day of adventure surrounded by nature. You can also admire the tradition and culture of the region, finding in the middle of the trails, stone paths, and archaeological elements.
Location and how to get to Arví Park
Arví Park is located in the northeast of Medellín, 30 kilometers from the city center, in the township of Santa Elena and the municipality of Guarne. There are many ways to get there, however, the one we recommend the most and feel that is part of the experience is through the Arví Tourist Cable of the Medellín Metro:
- Metro / Metrocable: you must get to Acevedo station, there take Metrocable Line K to Santo Domingo, where you must transfer to Line L of the Arví cable, which is exclusive to the Park. This last journey will take you around 20 minutes. Here you can check the Metro and Metrocable rates.
- Bus: in the center of Medellín, going up Avenida La Playa, three blocks after Avenida Oriental, on Carrera 42 with Calle 50, the Transacoop company buses will park in the direction of Santa Elena, some will take you directly to the park. These provide service from 6:00 a.m. with continuity of 30 minutes.
- Private transport: you have three options, you can take the Buenos Aires road to the El Silletero station, then turn left and follow the main road to the El Tambo sector. Another option is to take the Medellín – Bogotá highway, at approximately kilometer 20, you must turn right at the entrance to the Piedras Blancas path that is located in front of return number 6 (El Zango). Or, the last option is to take the Las Palmas road to the airport, after the old tollbooth, you must take the Perico or Pantanillo path to the main road, where you must turn left to the El Silletero station, then turn to turn right and continue until the El Tambo sector.
Rates and schedules of the Arví Park
The entrance to the Arví Park has no cost, however, if you choose any of the activities they offer, you will have to pay its corresponding value. Children who are less than 1.20 meters tall do not pay anything.
Arví Park is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. When Monday is a holiday, the closed day will become Tuesday. For its part, the Arví Park Corporation offers attention to the public from Monday to Saturday from 7:30 a.m. at 6:00 p.m.
What you can do in Arvi Park
Tourist plans of the Arví Park
The Arví Park has thought of all the possibilities, so it has created activities that range from the romance of a picnic in the middle of a large green lung, decorated and set with music, to team activities that require assertive communication and leadership.
For this reason, we invite you to know here the 15 experiences that have been thought out in great detail, that are available at any time of the year and that can be adjusted to your mood or availability. There are activities designed for a single hour and others for four, relaxation activities, and others involving physical effort, so let yourself be amazed and choose the ones that most attract your attention.
Hiking in Arví Park
As we mentioned at the beginning, the entrance to the Park has no cost and you can enjoy on your own one of the 13 trails available to travel them, however, we always recommend that you join the programmed and guided tours, because you will be able to learn much more and get to know the place with an expert.
Tours in Arví Park
Every day that the Park is open, there will be tours scheduled starting at 10:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. These vary in length, level of difficulty, and theme. We suggest that you arrive immediately, go to the ticket office so that you know what are the scheduled tours of the day and you can choose the one you like the most.
The tours have an approximate cost of 6.50 USD ($ 25,000) for foreigners, 2.60 USD ($ 10,000) for nationals, and 1.60 ($ 6,000) for people with sisbén of the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley (subregion of Antioquia made up of ten municipalities, having Medellín in the middle). This cost only includes the accompaniment of the guide throughout the tour.
Arví Park sighting towers
One of the most fascinating activities that the Arví Park offers is bird watching and for that they have two towers, one of 5 meters and the other of 9. You can only visit them accompanied by guides or tourist informants. From there you will have the possibility to observe and delight yourself with the diversity of birds, as well as appreciate the immensity and magic of the natural forests.
Arví by bike
Arví Park is betting a lot on sustainable mobility and that is why it encourages this great attraction of touring the forests by bicycle. These may only be used by people of legal age or children from 12 years of age accompanied by an adult. Tours are held on Sundays and Monday holidays, and if there are at least three people with the intention of doing so.
The bike tours have an approximate general value of 7.80 USD ($ 30,000) per person. This service includes the loan of the bicycle and helmet, the guide-interpreter of nature, and the insurance of medical assistance.
Scenic kilometer – Chorro Clarín picnic
This is one of the most visited sites in the Arví Park, as it is very traditional and is ideal to rest and share, while you contemplate and enjoy the gardens, the forests, the wonderful landscape, and the immensity of the water. This space is made up of 25 booths distributed in 7 rooms that are suitable for rest and passive recreation, as well as for the preparation and consumption of food.
Comfama and Comfenalco parks
Within the Arví Park, there are two other parks managed by the Comfama and Comfenalco compensation funds, the lats one being called the Piedras Blancas Hotel and Ecological Park.
Comfama is a space full of activities and cultural and historical wealth, it has musical gardens, a 4D movie theater, adventure activities in the trees, and much more. On the other hand, Comfenalco is located in a territory rich in native forests, it offers activities such as boat rental and canopy, but also with spaces such as a butterfly farm, an entomological museum, and the hotel.
The cost of entry and the hours are independent of Arví Park, so if you want to visit one of them, we suggest you use the following communication channels:
- Comfama: 216 29 00 ext. 8400 – www.comfama.com
- Comfenalco: 411 60 00 – www.comfenalcoantioquia.com
Ignacio Vélez Escobar Environmental and Cultural Center
This center offers an environmental and cultural program throughout the year aimed at all visitors. In addition, it has an auditorium, a food court, the Arví Store, and the administrative headquarters of the Arví Park Corporation.
Arví Coffee Shop
One of the great bets of the Park are the entrepreneurs of the region, for that reason, in this space you will find crafts, processed foods, and typical agricultural products. The Arví Café Store is a place designed to boost the local economy. It has 40 stalls on weekends and a permanent display of ten on regular days.
If you want to take home a memory of the experience in this cultural and natural center of the city, the Arví Store will be the best place to find it, since there are undoubtedly innovative products that refer to our culture, but also to care for the environment. Remember that you will be supporting the quality of life of the families in the region and the conservation of the Park.
The store is open the same days of operation as the Park, but its hours are from 9:30 a.m. at 5:30 p.m. Find here the catalog of available products.
Recommendations
- Wear comfortable shoes, preferably covered and not cloth in case you get wet.
- The height of the Park varies between 2,200 and 2,600 meters above sea level, so the weather is usually cold (15 ° C average), so we recommend that you go prepared for it, a jacket, sweater or raincoat is essential, and if you think it’s necessary, gloves and a hat.
- Likewise, due to the same conditions, the sun is usually very strong, so we also suggest that you use sunscreen and a cap.
- Remember that most of the activities offered in Arví Park require physical effort, some more than others; do not forget to bring good hydration and some sweet foods to recharge you with energy.
- You can bring food into the Park without any problem, but remember that there is also a great variety of local cuisine from the region that is well worth trying.
- Promote local products such as food and crafts with their consumption, and try to contribute with your presence to the development of sustainable and responsible tourism.
- Respect the dynamics and customs of the territory and the people of the region.
- Avoid walking alone on trails that you do not know and/or are not enabled.
- If you get lost, locate the closest signal, read the code at the bottom of each signal, and contact the numbers 123 or 4442979.
- Pets are allowed in the Park, however, they must always be with their own security elements and under your responsibility.
- Some of the streams that you are going to see in the Park supply water to part of the city’s population. That is why it is prohibited to enter water sources.
As you can see, the Park offers activities for all tastes, so you have no excuses to miss one of the most visited tourist attractions in Medellín, full of natural and cultural wealth.
