Maragua Crater, Chataquila Inca Trail & Niñu Mayu Dinosaur Tracks Guide

Just forty kilometres west of Sucre in the Cordillera de los Frailes lies one of the most visually surreal landscapes in the Andes: the Maragua Crater (Cráter de Maragua). Despite its popular name, the eight-kilometre-wide bowl is not a volcanic crater or meteorite impact, but an eroded geological syncline formed by marine and continental sediments laid down over tens of millions of years and folded upward by tectonic forces into Concentric scalloped ridges of crimson, violet, turquoise, and ochre sandstone. Accessible as a rewarding full-day hike or a two-to-three-day trek through traditional Jalq'a weaving villages, it is Sucre's premier outdoor adventure.

1. Walking the Chataquila-to-Chaunaca Pre-Columbian Inca Trail

• Starting High at the Santuario de Chataquila (3,650m): The classic route begins with a one-hour drive west from Sucre up to the mountain pass chapel of the Virgen de Guadalupe de Chataquila (3,650 metres). Because you start at the highest point of the ridge, the first two to three hours of the hike are almost entirely downhill, making it enjoyable even if you have just arrived in Bolivia.
• The Stone-Paved Pre-Inca & Inca Road (Camino Prehispánico): Winding four kilometres down the mountain face from Chataquila to the valley floor at Chaunaca (2,850m) is a remarkably intact, two-metre-wide cobble-paved road engineered by the pre-Columbian Yampara and Charka cultures and incorporated into the Inca Qhapaq Ñan network, offering sweeping views across the folded peaks of the Cordillera de los Frailes and condors riding the morning thermals.

2. Entering the Maragua Syncline, Garganta del Diablo & Jalq'a Weavers

From Chaunaca, the trail (or support vehicle on a 1-day excursion) climbs beside the Río Ravelo and through the narrow canyon of Socapampa to crest the rim of the Maragua basin (3,050m):

• Garganta del Diablo & Jalq'a Weaving Homestays: Carved into the northern wall of the syncline above the village of Maragua is the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat), a cavernous red-sandstone cleft and seasonal waterfall sacred to local communities, with a natural lookout platform over the entire swirled basin. In the adobe houses of Maragua and nearby Potolo, women of the Jalq'a culture weave the famous black-and-red khuru tapestries exhibited at Sucre's ASUR Museum.
• Niñu Mayu Open-Air Dinosaur Footprints (Day 2 Extension): Trekkers continuing on the two-day route walk three hours from Maragua across the ridge to Niñu Mayu, where tilted Cretaceous rock slabs lie completely out in the open, allowing you to walk directly across dozens of fossilised sauropod and theropod footprints.