Cascada del Amor: A Guide to Jardin’s Waterfall of Love

Deep in the mountainous countryside of Antioquia, Cascada del Amor is one of the many waterfalls to see around the colonial town of Jardin. 

There is no shortage of waterfall hikes to undertake in this area of Colombia. You can trek to Cascada la Escalera, Cascada de Francia or Cueva del Esplendor.

However, Cascada del Amor is by far the easiest and most relaxing hike of them all. This hike, or more walk, is perfect if you’re looking for a quick morning excursion, a little blood pump or making use of a break in the rain. 

In this guide we’ll cover our own experience of getting to and exploring around Cascada del Amor. By the end you will know where it is, the details of the hike and things to do nearby to the waterfall.

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About Cascada del Amor

Cascada del Amor is only a small waterfall, around 15m tall, but it has a big story. The legend goes that if you and your partner kiss while standing under its water, then that love will last forever. This is how it came to be known as Cascada del Amor, or “Waterfall of Love”.

Only a 10-15 minute walk from Jardin’s main plaza, and with a gentle elevation gain, this walk is perfect for everyone. The trail mainly runs along a wide, unpaved road and is simple to follow. Cascada del Amor itself is situated right next to the road, you’ll see people around it as you arrive.

Hiking to Cascada del Amor

It’s time for what you came for! We’ll detail the trek from Jardin to Cascada del Amor so you can follow it to a tee. Here are the stats:

Starting from the Basilica of Immaculate Conception, you need to take Carrera 5 north. At Calle 13 you swing a right and at the end of the road you’ll find the trailhead for Camino de la Herrera. 

Camino de la Herrera is a loop walk that takes you from Jardin to Cascada del Amor, Cueva de los Murcielagos and much more! We’ll cover a bunch of these places in the next section.

The first past of this walk is over large cobblestones. We actually found this path quite difficult to walk on. You really need to think about your foot placement! This section only lasts for a few hundred meters and will spit you out the other end on an unpaved dirt road.

We followed this road up a gentle incline for about 700m before a short 100m descent to Cascada del Amor.

The waterfall is easy to spot from the road, especially if it’s 9am or later as it’ll be surrounded by tourists! If you want the place to yourself, you need to arrive early.

Top tip: you can also hire a tuk tuk to bring you here. Tuk tuks are easy to find in Jardin town and should only cost 10,000 – 15,000 COP ($2.38 – $3.57) for the return trip.

Things to do near Cascada del Amor

If you’re in the area and you have spare time, there’s a few other things we recommend doing!

Cueva de los Murcielagos

Cueva de los Murcielagos, or ‘The Bat Cave’, is a 160m long and 2.5m wide man-made cave. It’s become the home for a cauldron of vampire bats which you can visit for just a measly 12,000 COP ($2.85).

Continue past Cascada del Amor for about another five minutes along the same road. You’ll cross a bridge over the Rio Volcanes and come to a cafe on your right. This is a great place to stop if you’re peckish by the way! Just a tad further on the first hairpin bend is the big wooden gate to Cueva de los Murcielagos.

Rio Volcanes (Charco Corazon)

Right across from the entrance of Cueva de los Murcielagos you’ll see a bunch of people cooling off in the waters of Rio Volcanes. This area’s also known as Charco Corazon, the translation of which is ‘heart puddle’ – kinda cute! 

Walk down to the path to the river’s edge and take a dip! It’ll be a great refresher on a hot day. Just bear in mind that this is mountain water, so it’s COLD!

Nearby there’s also a sign for Cascada Escondida, but we couldn’t see the waterfall. It may be that you need to book a guide!

Camino de la Herrera

We touched up on this briefly, but the Camino de la Herrera is a loop trail that you can take from Jardin, back to Jardin! These are the stats:

The Camino de la Herrera covers most of what we’ve spoken about so far. Jardin to Cascada del Amor, then to Charco Corazon and Cueva de los Murcielagos. From here you can keep following the AllTrails map through the countryside and enjoy your walk!

You’ll finish at the Jardin de Rocas nature reserve. If you’re here between 3-6pm, we recommend visiting to see the elusive Andean Cock-of-the-Rock.

Waterfalls to visit after Cascada del Amor

If Cascada del Amor is the first waterfall in Jardin you’ve visited, here’s a couple more that we highly recommend!

Cascada la Escalera & Fall of the Dragon

Cascada la Escalera and Fall of the Dragon are two waterfalls along the ‘Four Waterfalls Trail’. We attempted the four waterfalls trail but failed miserably to find Cueva de los Guarachos and Salto del Angel. If you do want to do the full trail, we recommend hiring a guide who knows the local area!

However, Cascada la Escalera and Fall of the Dragon are much easier to find and do not require a guide. Here are the stats from Jardin to Fall of the Dragon and back:

Cascada la Escalera

From Jardin to Cascada la Escalera, you can also add in the Cristo Rey and Cafe Jardin loop too. We did this and would definitely recommend it!

If you decide to trek directly to Cascada la Escalera, you need to use maps to get yourself to the trailhead here. From the trailhead it’s a simple walk up a steady incline to Cascada la Escalera. There are a couple of shallow water crossings, but anyone could handle this!

You can also book canyoning (or rappelling/abseiling) at Cascada la Escalera. We didn’t do canyoning this time around but maybe next time we’ll indulge.

Fall of the Dragon

The hike from Cascada la Escalera to Fall of the Dragon is why we’ve given this trail a ‘hard’ status. Continue past Cascada la Escalera and follow the road along the side of a bunch of farm land. At one point you’ll reach a house that’s private property. Take the gate to the right to walk around the house.

After some more incline along the same road, this is where the hike gets difficult. You’ll reach the bottom of a hill and be facing a 150m climb over a very short distance. The views over the valley make it worth it though!

From here follow the trail along the side of the mountain and it’ll slowly become more forested. It’s a bit overgrown along here, so download the AllTrails map to follow as there’s no phone signal. At one point, you’ll reach a small muddy path that leads into the forest.

Head along this path for a short period and you’ll come out right at the Fall of the Dragon!

Cueva del Esplendor

The last waterfall we want to talk about is Cueva del Esplendor. This waterfall is special as, over time, it’s eroded a hole through a cave roof. When you arrive, you’ll see the ‘splendor’ of the waterfall cascading through the hole in the cave!

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we weren’t about to visit this one. However, there are two ways to get there. You can book a tour and a jeep will drive you most of the way, or you can hike! Here are the details of the hike:

Cueva del Esplendor is so popular these days that you can only spend 30 mins at the waterfall. They also only let you visit with a guide and you need to pay an entrance fee. Also, visitors to Cueva del Esplendor are limited to just 40 people per day!

If you are only in Jardin for a short period of time, we recommend hiking to either Cueva del Esplendor or the Four Waterfalls Trail. Definitely hire a jeep to the one you don’t hike to, otherwise it’s going to be a tiring couple of days!

How to get to Jardin

To gain your eternal love from Cascada del Amor, you need to get to Jardin. Jardin is a small pueblo found in a valley of the Andes mountains. Don’t worry though, it’s easy to get there.

Assuming you’re in Medellin, the easiest and cheapest way to get to Jardin is by bus. This is exactly what we did. We booked our tickets online via Bus Bud. Tickets were 38,000 COP ($9.32) per person each way. 

We published a full guide on how to get from Medellin to Jardin and back. In it we covered everything from booking your ticket, to catching the bus and sharing our full experience of the journey!

Other ways to get to Jardin could be by hiring a private driver or renting a car. Renting a car could be a great option as it also gives you flexibility to explore other towns in the same area as Jardin!

Places to stay in Jardin

There are tons of places to stay in Jardin, but these are some that particularly stand out!

• Rosita 2 – where we decided to stay. It’s a great budget option in a small guesthouse. We recommend booking the private double room which comes with a private bathroom and balcony overlooking Jardin. We paid a respectable 80,000 COP ($19.63) per night.
• La Casa de Ana – a greta option if you’re travelling as a group. It’s a three-bedroom house and only costs $60/night!
• Casa Passiflora Hotel Boutique – one of the most popular places to stay in Jardin. This is our luxury pick at 550,000 COP ($128.82) per night. For this price, you get a beautiful room, 24/7h concierge service and an outdoor hot tub!

Final Thoughts on Cascada del Amor

Cascada del Amor was a lovely change of pace for us. The previous day we had attempted The Four Waterfall trail and had spent about 8 hours hiking in the mountains. So to have such a gentle walk to Cascada del Amor was perfect for us!

Check out our other Jardín guides:

• Cascada la Escalera in Jardin: Everything You Need to Know
• Fall of the Dragon: A Hidden Waterfall in Jardin
• Best Cafes in Jardin Colombia: Where to Get Your Coffee?
• 37+ Things to do in Jardin: Colombia’s Best Kept Secret
• How to get from Medellin to Jardin by bus (and more)
• Is Colombia safe to visit in 2024? Everything you need to know

We hope that our guide covered everything you need to know about visiting Cascada del Amor in Jardin. We always strive to offer the most accurate and up-to-date information we can but if you think something we’ve said is wrong, please let us know!