Four days, 60 km, three camps and one staircase. The 4-day is the most-walked version of the Lost City trek, and the reason is that the load sits where you can actually take it: a short first day, the hard climb in the middle while you are still rested, and the terraces on the morning you are freshest.
Here is what each of those days actually contains.
At a glance
| Day | Route | Distance | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Mamey → Adán | 9.3 km | 4 h |
| 2 | Adán → Múmake → Paso Lorenzo | 17.2 km | 7 h |
| 3 | Paso Lorenzo → the terraces → Múmake | 15.8 km | 6 h |
| 4 | Múmake → El Mamey → Santa Marta | 17.2 km | 6 h |
Departures leave daily at 07:00 from Santa Marta with no minimum group, so the trek runs whether you are five people or one.
The night before
You come to the office at Calle 17 # 3-69, Centro Histórico to pay the remaining 90%, meet your guide, leave your main bag and get the briefing. The office is also where the Ciudad Perdida stamp goes into your passport and where the seasonal fruit turns up — small things, and the two people mention afterwards. Sleep in Santa Marta, because arriving on the morning of departure does not work.
Take out cash in small bills before you go. There is nowhere on the trail to change a COP 50,000 note.
Day 1 — Santa Marta to Adán
9.3 km · 4 hours
Pickup is at 07:00 at your hotel, then two and a half hours by 4×4 to the trailhead at El Mamey, where the road disappears and the path begins.
The first day is a warm-up rather than a test: humid, mostly flat, and crossing three rivers. This is where you find out what your footwear does when it gets wet, which is exactly the right day to find out. The forest closes over you for the first time.
At camp you get hammocks and bunks under mosquito nets, cold showers and shared toilets, with dinner served communally. If the water is behaving there is a natural pool nearby, and swimming in it before dinner is the reward for the day. Light is solar where a camp has it, and not guaranteed everywhere, so charge nothing and count on your headlamp instead.
The one thing to watch for tonight is blisters. Report them now, not tomorrow.
Day 2 — Adán to Paso Lorenzo
17.2 km · 7 hours
This is the longest and hardest walking day. The path follows indigenous trails made of stone, root, and at times the dry bed of the Buritaca river, and it climbs steadily for most of the day.
It is also the richest day of the four. Your guide will stop often — to name plants, to point out jaguar prints in the mud, to explain the four communities who own this territory and grant the access. You pass Kogui and Wiwa settlements, which are homes rather than exhibits, so ask before photographing anyone, every single time.
Where people struggle is the middle of the afternoon, once the humidity has been working on them for six hours. Eat and drink before you feel you need to.
Paso Lorenzo sits by the river, and it is where summit morning starts. Your pack comes with you: day three crosses to the terraces and down to Múmake rather than returning here.
Day 3 — the terraces
15.8 km · 6 hours · 1,200 stone steps
You wake before dawn and the climb begins in the dark, in cool air, with headlamps. That is deliberate: doing those steps in the afternoon heat would be a different and considerably worse experience.
The 1,200 stone steps unroll underfoot over roughly an hour. They are uneven, mossy when wet, and steeper than photographs suggest, but they are not exposed. Nothing here will frighten you. It is simply a long, continuous climb.
By the time the sun clears the canopy you are standing on the first of 169 terraces. Your guide may ask you to be quiet because the elders are walking below, and that request is not decoration.
You spend two to three hours on the site, then descend to Múmake for the third night. This is the day people came for, and the only one everybody prepares for, because everybody braces for the steps.
Day 4 — the exit
17.2 km · 6 hours
A long descent on the same path you came up, and the day nobody prepares for. A long descent over 17.2 km is what tests knees, not the climb. If you brought poles, this is the day they earn their weight, and if it has rained, everything takes longer.
Lunch on the river at Adán, a final cold drink waiting in El Mamey, and back in Santa Marta between 15:00 and 17:00 depending on how the trail behaved.
Do not book a flight for that evening. Plan a recovery day.
What is included in those four days
Transport from Santa Marta, a certified authorised lead guide, an English translator on international departures, entry to the archaeological zone, full board from lunch on day one, hammock or bunk with mosquito net and blanket, trek insurance for the hiking days, and the community contribution.
Not included: first-day breakfast, alcohol at camp, an optional pack mule, tips, and international travel insurance. The full breakdown is in the price guide.
How the other durations change this
The 3-day compresses the same trail: day one becomes 17.2 km instead of 9.3, pickup is at 04:30, and a stretch by motorcycle shortens the walk in. It climbs the steps alongside the 4-day group.
The 5-day walks the same first three days, gives its fourth to a separate waterfall route, and finishes with about three hours to El Mamey. The extra night does not buy an easier climb — it buys a much shorter exit. There is a full comparison in 3 vs 4 vs 5 days.
Honest expectations
- You will be wet, from rain or river or sweat, for most of every day.
- You will sleep badly the first night and better the second.
- The group forms fast. Four days without phones does that.
- The terraces are quieter than you expect, and that is the whole point of arriving on foot.
Related
- Lost City trek difficulty — the same days, measured against your legs
- What to pack — the 8–10 kg you carry
- Where do you sleep? — camp in detail
- Lost City trek price — what the four days cost
Ready to walk it?
Departures leave Santa Marta at 7:00 a.m. every day. The 4-day trek has no minimum group — it runs whether you are five people or one.
From COP 1,860,000 4 days — the classic
