Cerro de Las Tres Cruces: The BEST Hike in Medellin

We lived in Medellin for over a month, and spent a lot of time compiling a list of the best hikes in or near the city. (Best 5 Hikes in Medellin) But to save you some time – Cerro de Las Tres Cruces was easily our favorite hike in all of Medellin. The hike is very well defined, well trafficked (but not too popular), a decent length (about an hour up and an hour down), and comes with amazing views of the city. What else could you ask for?

In this post we’ll share with you everything you need to know about Cerro de Las Tres Cruces. Hiking in Colombia, especially when you’re near the big cities, inherently comes with the risk of being robbed, so we’ll share with you our experience as to how safe this hike is. Read on for more!

Hiking Cerro de Las Tres Cruces

Here’s everything you need to know for the hike. If you only have time for one hike in Medellin, this is definitely the one to do!

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Getting to the Trailhead

Cerro de Las Tres Cruces is located in the Southwest of Medellin, in the Belen neighborhood. Since you are probably staying in El Poblado or Laureles, the easiest way to get here is by taxi or Uber. On Google Maps, the start is listed as ‘Hike Tres Cruces’ – you can find the exact location here.

The taxi should drop you off right at the start of the trail. From the start, it’s a straight shot to the top of the mountain. The trail is very clearly defined.

Also, the neighborhood is a very safe and calm neighborhood, so don’t worry too much about walking around the streets and sticking out.

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Tip 💡 – We thought we could hop in a taxi and tell the driver ‘Cerro de Las Tres Cruces’ … but we were wrong. The driver had no idea where to go to start the hike, and we ended up driving around the neighborhood asking a bunch of people where to go. We recommend giving the driver the exact location.

What’s the Cerro de Las Tres Cruces Like? The Hike.

We recommend doing this hike in the late afternoon/early evening to catch the sunset. We started around 4 PM and would say this is perfect. Most people who do this hike are locals and start after work around 4 or 5 PM.

In total, it took us about an hour to get to the top from the start with multiple stops to appreciate the views. About halfway up the hill you will come to a clearing where there is a Calisthenics park (pictured below) that is nice, but a bit rundown. I had read a few blogs that said there was a calisthenics park at the top, and I was wondering if this was “the one”. It is not. There is a much, much nicer one at the very top of the mountain.

After the first Calisthenics park, the real hike starts. Steep and long but with beautiful views of Medellin, your heart will be feeling it, as it is quite steep. (but not dangerous at all, don’t worry)

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The Summit – Cerro de las Tres Cruces

At the top, you’ll find a large, brand new calisthenics park, and a ton of space to walk around and get a 360 view of Medellin. This would be a great place to bring some drinks and relax as the sun is going down. You’ll definitely find a bunch of people working out up here.

We did this hike 3 or 4 times during our time in Medellin (always in the late afternoon/early evening), and never once did we see any tourists. We’ve heard the hike gets pretty crowded in the mornings, so we suspect most tourists do this hike in the morning as well.

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💡 Tip: There is a fruit/juice stand near the bottom of the hike that is VERY good. We got a “Jugo” with lime, watermelon, and pineapple, freshly squeezed and blended in front of us, for 5,000 COP ($1.28 USD). It was fantastic and an amazing way to end the hike. If you come in the morning, there will be even more stands selling fruit juice and water on your way up! (but the hill will definitely be more crowded as well) 🍉

What to Do After the Hike – Explore Belen!

After you finish Cerro de Las Tres Cruces, we recommend you walk around and explore the neighborhood of Belen! Belen is a very calm, middle to upper class neighborhood of Medellin. It’s definitely safe to explore. After our hike we walked down into the neighborhood and found a place to eat dinner and have some drinks. We really liked this neighborhood because we didn’t see any other tourists, but we still felt safe and not out-of-place. The locals are very welcoming here.

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Summary – Cerro de Las Tres Cruces – The Best Hike in Medellin

This hike is easily our favorite hike in all of Medellin. It’s not too long but still gives you AMAZING views of the city. It’s very local – we didn’t see any tourists during any of the four times we did this hike. And it’s quite easy to get to.

In terms of safety, there’s nothing to worry about here. Belen is a very safe neighborhood in Medellin – about as safe as you can get. This hike is very well trafficked so we don’t think you need to worry about getting robbed. There’s plenty of people on the trail at all times, as long as you don’t go late at night!

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Thanks for reading. Let us know what you think of the hike!