Guatapé and La Piedra Del Peñol (the Rock) - a day trip from Medellín

I made a day trip from Medellín to Guatapé and La Piedra Del Peñol (the Rock). It is about a two hour bus ride from Medellín to Guatapé.

First, the rock is a huge granite rock. I think Sugar Loaf in Rio de Janeiro has it beat. What is interesting about La Piedra Del Peñol is that it is a huge rock in the middle of no granite rocks. In Rio, granite is everywhere. There are some comparatively small granite rocks, but not many and none are close to the size of The Rock.

Climbing the rock is not a small task as it is 687 steps to the top and then a few more to the top of a man-made tower that sits atop. It is worth the climb, because when you reach the top, you are afforded a very nice view of the area.

The Rock sits in the middle of a large lake area created by the formation of a hydroelectric power plant. The lake looks like it has hundreds of islands. The lake area is semi-developed. Most of the housing there is pretty nice. There are some docks and a few boats.

An interesting dining/party boat. I think this would work well in Miami or Lake of the Ozarks. I am guessing this had to have been constructed on the lake as they would not have been able to move it on the roads.

Guatapé is a nice town. Unfortunately, I did not get very many pictures of the town. It has a lot of hotels and restaurants. I visited on a Wednesday night/Thursday day. It was somewhat quiet. I am guessing that the town is very busy during the weekends with a crowd coming from Medellín. If I get a chance in the future, I would like to try to re-visit Guatapé on a weekend.

One interesting characteristic of the town is that all of the homes and businesses have artwork on the side of the buildings. The artwork often implies something about the people living there or the type of business. It is generally 3D artwork, which I thought was kind of cool.

Guatapé and La Piedra Del Peñol: worth the visit!