Rock Climbing in Guatapé

Thanks to Spanish Adventure’s excellent location in San Carlos, Antioquia, just four hours from Medellín, the school offers great insight into the area’s hidden gems. From remote hikes to tourist attractions, Spanish Adventure makes sure that its students’ travels are far from typical.  

Every Saturday at Spanish Adventure we go and explore the nature and sights The language school went head to head with the famous Piedra del Peñol in Guatapé. 

Looking for a guide with all the gear? Reach out to Sebastian at +57 320-414-8491. Let him know Spanish Adventure sent you.

Guatapé is a popular tourist day trip from Medellín. It’s famous for the 200-meter tall, granite rock that rises abruptly from level ground, El Peñol. Most tourists take the stairs to reach the top—but Spanish Adventurers aren’t “most tourists”. Instead, we geared up with rope and harness to climb the rock, balancing on just our fingertips and toes.

Guatapé - The Usual Way

The famous rock straddles two towns: Guatapé and Peñol, but Guatapé is the reigning champ for tourist attraction. A 10 minute tuk tuk ride gets you from the carnival-bright, charming town center to the base of the rock, where merchants have long since set up camp. Feeling peckish? Not to worry! You have plenty of opportunities to feast on cremas de queso (cheese ice creams), fresh fruit, and micheladas (beer with salt and lime) at both the bottom and the top of the climb.

If you choose to take the stairs, 740 brick stairs should get you to the top in 10-15 minutes, though selfie-taker traffic and general windedness can sometimes create delays.

Once at the top, reap the reward of a stunning 360° view of the surrounding reservoir, cold cerveza in hand.

Guatapé The Spanish Adventure Way

For a slightly different view of (and from) El Peñol, Spanish Adventure skipped the stairs, choosing instead to claw our way up the massive granite beast. 

David and Sebastian, our terrific climbing guides, met us at the base of the rock and led us on the short ascent to the climbing site. 

Midway up the base of the rock, we stopped at a cabin—climbing HQ—to grab our gear. Sebastian and David secured our harnesses and handed out climbing shoes. We were ready to conquer some granite! 

Although most of the adventurers had no experience with rock climbing, the group felt very safe in the hands of our climbing guides/belayers. The encouragement and advice we received from our belay stations proved effective for helping us finish our routes.

After several hours of clawing at rock, we headed back down to the cabin for a well-deserved lunch. From the cabin’s front patio, we enjoyed an incredible view of the reservoir as we unwrapped our fat, still-warm banana leaves to discover meaty bundles of rice, veggies, chicken and sweet plantain. Our amazing chefs Bernice and Griselda never fail to keep us well fed—even halfway up a cliff face.

Read more about the 30+ sport and trad routes. https://www.mountainproject.com/area/110992730/la-piedra-del-penol