The El Cajas National Park is 28 000 hectare area of some 230 lakes and forests between 3100m and 4450m above sea level offering a tundra vegetation on a jagged landscape of hills and valleys. The national park is home to a variety of wildlife including the Andean Gull, black frogs, humming birds and condors as well as a variety of indigenous plants including many rare bromeliads and orchids.

Humidity and high altitude with low atmospheric pressure create an ecosystem that accumulates organic material in the soil that is able to retain water. Cajas provides about 60% of the drinking water for the Cuenca area. The high grassland ecosystem (páramo) contains plants suitably adapted to it, 19 of them endemic to Cajas. Above 3,300 meters the quinua (Polylepis) or "paper tree" forest is also found.

There are many different hiking routes and your guide will advise you which to take according to your interests and physical condition.