Mindo Cloud Forest & Bird Watching

Mindo Ecuador Cloud Forest Valley is among the most heavily visited locations in Ecuador. You can enjoy activities such as rafting, tubing, trekking, mountain biking, canyoning, horseback riding, birdwatching, and herping. 

Besides its well-developed tourism infrastructure, it offers several private reserves and lodges known for their montane forests, waterfalls and unique cloud forest biodiversity.

It’s unique geographical location, between the highlands of Quito and the Ecuadorian coast at an altitude of 1250m / 4101ft. Three rivers (Mindo, Saloya and Cinto) and hundreds of streams irrigate the landscape, which consists of a patchwork of cloud forests, secondary forests, agricultural land, and human settlements.

The Valley of Mindo is considered to be one of South America’s best bird-watching sites. Bird Life International named Mindo as the first IBA or Important Bird Area in the Americas in 1997, for its exceptional flora, fauna and botanical abundance, unique in species, considered vital for the development of ecological tourism.

Cloud forests like Mindo have high humidity, cool temperatures and an abundance of wildlife and plants particularly epiphytes, varieties that grow on other plants and of course orchids everywhere!