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Volcano · Cordillera Central · Caldas Department

Nevado del Ruiz

5,389 m17,680 ft

Prominence: 2,035 m6,677 ft
Isolation: at least 200 km
Tonight: -4°CCloudy · Wind 5 km/h SW

Nevado del Ruiz is a 5,389 m (17,680 ft) volcano in the Cordillera Central, Caldas Department, Colombia.

All facts

Elevation: 5,389 m · 17,680 ft
Range: Cordillera Central
Region: Caldas Department, Colombia
Coordinates: 4.8937° N, 75.3235° W

Open the 3D view

3D map

Nevado del Ruiz 3D map

Drag to orbit · click, then scroll to zoom (or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll) · One finger scrolls the page · two fingers orbit and zoom · 12.2 × 12.2 km

Surface

Vertical scale

Topographic map

Nevado del Ruiz topographic map

100 m contours from the Copernicus GLO-30 terrain model. The route drawn is the easiest mapped one, from El Sifón. Click two points on the map to draw your own cross-section.Tap two points on the map to draw your own cross-section.

Index contours every 500 mShowing west → east through the summit

West → east through the summit

Hover the profile to read elevation and distance.Tap or drag along the profile to read elevation and distance.

Downloads

Nevado del Ruiz downloads: topographic map, heightmap, STL 3D model and DEM

Free files made in your browser from this page's terrain data. No sign-up; credit the sources below.

Print & wall

JPGNevado del Ruiz satellite image (JPEG)Sentinel-2 true-colour image of the same area, taken 2026-08-10.

3D printing & 3D apps

GIS & GPS

GPXNevado del Ruiz GPX / KML route downloadIn the route section. Mapped route for GPS apps and Google Earth, under the ODbL.

</>Embed this mapPaste this into your site to show the interactive 3D terrain, with a credit link back here.

<iframe src="https://topolu.com/embed/nevado-del-ruiz" width="100%" height="480" style="border:0" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen title="3D terrain of Nevado del Ruiz"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://topolu.com/nevado-del-ruiz" rel="nofollow">Topolu</a></p>

Free to use with credit: see the data sources

Route

How to get to the top of Nevado del Ruiz

The shortest mapped walking route from where a car can get you, with distance and climb from the terrain model.

From El Sifón (parking)

Distance: 6.4 kmone way
Climb: +1,241 m−6 m (4,072 ft up)
Time up: about 3.5 h
Difficulty: T4Alpine: faint path, hands needed in places

Nevado del Ruiz elevation profile

Download GPX (free, ODbL)KML

Routes © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the ODbL. Climb from the terrain model. Trails change and maps miss things: check conditions locally.

Weather

Nevado del Ruiz weather

Tonight · Cloudy · -4°C (25°F) · 0.2 mm · Wind 5 km/h SW

Nevado del Ruiz forecast for the summit, about 5,389 m. Summit vs base: the Base line is for about 4,047 m.

Tonight-4°0.2 mm5 km/h SWBase 5°
Sat-4°1°14.3 mm11 km/h EBase 4 / 10°
Sun-4°1°12.7 mm8 km/h EBase 4 / 10°
Mon-4°-1°49.9 mm4 km/h SBase 5 / 8°
Tue-4°-1°19.1 mm4 km/h NBase 4 / 8°
Wed-5°-1°17.5 mm3 km/h SBase 4 / 8°
Thu-4°-1°32.5 mm4 km/h SBase 5 / 8°
Fri-4°-1°9.7 mm4 km/h EBase 4 / 7°
Sat-5°-1°10.9 mm2 km/h SWBase 4 / 8°
Sun-4°0°10.9 mm3 km/h SWBase 5 / 8°

Forecast data: MET Norway, CC BY 4.0; daily low and high, precipitation total and strongest wind from the hourly data, model run Oct 23, 23:19 UTC.

Camping & parking

Camping & parking near Nevado del Ruiz

Campsites, parking, trailheads and mountain huts mapped in OpenStreetMap around Nevado del Ruiz, nearest first, by straight-line distance. Check access, fees and permits locally.

Nearest parking
1.8 km WNW
+2 more within 6.5 km
Directions Map
Nearest hut
El Refugio
1.8 km WNW · +2 more within 4.5 km
Directions Map
Nearest campsite
Campamento Cañón del Azufrado
3.2 km NNE · +2 more within 4.7 km
Directions Map

All mapped places 9

Place	Distance
Parking	1.8 km WNW
El RefugioHut	1.8 km WNW
Hut	1.8 km WNW
Campamento Cañón del AzufradoCampsite	3.2 km NNE
NevadoCampsite	3.6 km ESE
Refugio ArenalesHut	4.5 km NW
Campamento AngeloCampsite	4.7 km ESE
El SifónParking	5.7 km NE
Parking	6.5 km SW

Slope

How steep is the route to Nevado del Ruiz?

The easiest mapped route, 6.4 km from 4,047 m to 5,389 m. Steepest stretch: 33°.

0 km · 4,047 m6.4 km · 5,389 m

0–15°4.7 km
15–30°1.6 km
30–45°0.1 km

Grades are averaged between profile points about 80 m apart, so short steeper steps don’t show.

Land cover

ESA WorldCover 10 m classification of the same area.

Grassland 48.4%Bare rock / sparse 38.6%Snow & ice 9.5%Trees 3.3%

Snow & ice means glaciers and year-round snow (a yearly average), not today’s snow cover.

Nearby summits

Named peaks within 6.1 km, measured from the Nevado del Ruiz summit.

Summit list 5

1Cráter La Olleta4,800 m 3.6 km W
2Alto La Piraña4,595 m 4.2 km ENE
3Cuchilla Topacio4,190 m 4.4 km NE
4Cuchilla La Cabaña4,406 m 4.7 km ESE
5Alto El Águila4,201 m 6.1 km NW

Where it sits

Where Nevado del Ruiz sits

Ranked in 2

Nearby

Nearby places

More 1

Volcán Cerro MachínPeak · 2,650 m46 km S

How accurate is this?

103 m low This 3D map reads 5,286 m at the summit; the official height is 5,389 m.

Why: a 30 m terrain model averages each cell, so a sharp summit gets rounded off. The 90 m model misses by 110 m.

Source	Summit	Difference
Official height (Wikidata)	5,389 m	—
Copernicus GLO-30 (used on this page)	5,286 m	-103 m
Copernicus GLO-90	5,279 m	-110 m

Data sources

Terrain: Produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. The European Union, ESA, DLR and Airbus incur no liability for any use of this data and do not endorse this service.
Imagery: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026 (scene 2026-08-10)
Land cover: © ESA WorldCover project 2021 / Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021) processed by ESA WorldCover consortium
Facts: Wikidata (CC0)
Accuracy comparison, Panorama: Includes Copernicus WorldDEM-90 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. The European Union, ESA, DLR and Airbus incur no liability for any use of this data and do not endorse this service.
Forecast: Weather forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)
Sources: Wikidata · OpenStreetMap · GeoNames · Wikipedia

Nevado del Ruiz

West → east through the summit

From El Sifón (parking)

Nearest parking

Nearest hut

Nearest campsite

Data sources