Photo by Rudolphous, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
🇪🇨 Ecuador · Napo Province, Eastern Andes
Photo by Rudolphous, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
🇪🇨 Ecuador · Napo Province, Eastern Andes
♨ Temperature
40°C
⛰ Altitude
3300 m
⚗ pH
6.9
💧 TDS
560 mg/L
🌊 Flow rate
25 L/s
📅 Established
Traditional use; resort complex built 1990s
✓ Verified on 2026-07-22
Papallacta is a geothermal spring complex in the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve at 3,300 metres altitude in Ecuador's eastern Andes, about 64 kilometres east of Quito and perched at the edge of the Amazonian cloud forest. The springs are heated by the regional volcanic system — the chain of active volcanoes running through Ecuador's Avenue of the Volcanoes includes Antisana, Cotopaxi, and Pichincha, all within view on clear days. Water temperatures reach 38–42°C in the bathing pools, surrounded by páramo grassland and dense cloud forest. The complex operates a series of outdoor pools of varying temperatures set against a dramatic Andean landscape, along with private enclosed baths and a spa facility. The combination of high altitude and thermal water creates a physiologically distinctive experience: the thin air of the páramo and the warm geothermal springs interact to produce a powerful state of physical relaxation that visitors consistently describe as qualitatively different from lower-altitude bathing. The springs also feed the Quito municipal water supply — an unusual proximity of drinking water source and spa destination.
| Sodium | 82 mg/L |
| Bicarbonate | 310 mg/L |
| Silica | 45 mg/L |
| Calcium | 28 mg/L |
| Fluoride | 1.1 mg/L |
Papallacta sits within the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve, one of Ecuador's most biologically diverse protected areas, spanning from Andean páramo above 4,000 metres down to the Amazon lowlands at 600 metres. The reserve protects critical headwaters for both Quito and the upper Amazon basin. The geothermal system at Papallacta is part of the same volcanic chain that includes the 5,897-metre Cayambe glacier, where geothermal activity beneath the ice has created one of the few glaciated active volcanic systems in the world.
For Quiteños, Papallacta is the closest thermal escape from the city — a two-hour drive up into the Andes and across the continental divide into the cloud forest. The weekend ritual of driving from Quito to Papallacta, soaking in the high-altitude springs, eating locally caught trout from the cold rivers below, and returning before dark is one of the most distinctly Ecuadorian wellness experiences — combining the productivity culture of the capital with the elemental landscape of the páramo.
The Papallacta springs sit within a strictly protected ecological reserve. The resort complex operates under environmental management agreements with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment, limiting expansion and requiring compliance with water extraction protocols. The proximity of the springs to the Quito municipal water intake makes careful management of chemical balance and extraction volumes especially critical.
Websitewww.termaspapallacta.com
AddressPapallacta, Napo Province, Ecuador