Tequendama Falls

Tequendama Falls is a dramatic waterfall on the Bogotá River in Cundinamarca, Colombia, located near the municipality of San Antonio del Tequendama. The falls have a vertical drop of approximately 132 metres and are a well-known natural landmark outside Bogotá.

Lookouts and platforms near the road give panoramic views of the vertical drop and the river canyon below, and an early 20th-century hotel building overlooking the fall is a prominent architectural element adjacent to the site. Photographers and day visitors commonly use the viewpoints to frame the cascade and surrounding rocky gorge.

The site has long local significance and features a riverscape shaped by the Bogotá River; in recent decades visitors have also noted the environmental impact of urban and industrial wastewater on river quality. Conservation and interpretation efforts have addressed both the natural setting and the fall’s cultural associations.

The falls lie in the western shoulder of the Eastern Cordillera, roughly southwest of Bogotá in Cundinamarca Department, reachable by road from the capital within about an hour to two hours depending on traffic.

• Height and river: The waterfall drops roughly 132 metres and is formed by the Bogotá River.
• Pollution: Water quality has been heavily affected by pollution from the Bogotá metropolitan area, which is evident in the river below the falls.

What to See #

• Casa del Salto (hotel building): An early 20th-century riverside hotel and viewing complex built adjacent to the falls, later used as a museum and exhibition space and visible from the main lookout points.