Colombia’s highest road reportedly reaches 4,149 meters above sea level on the route connecting Murillo, in Tolima, with Manizales, in Caldas. Near a point known as El Sifon, the road crosses a cold, high-altitude landscape of paramo, a mountain ecosystem of wetlands and grasses that stores and releases water for millions of Colombians. The route also runs alongside Los Nevados National Natural Park and attracts visitors traveling from the Armero junction through Libano and Murillo toward La Esperanza in Caldas.
However, sources disagree about which road holds the national record. Caracol reports measurements of both 4,149 and 4,100 meters for the Murillo–Manizales route, while El Tiempo identifies a road through the Almorzadero paramo at 3,860 meters. Cycling guides cite other high passes, including one near the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy at approximately 4,240 meters. These competing figures show that the answer depends partly on how sources define a road and whether they include paved and unpaved routes.
Murillo–Manizales: Colombia’s highest road
Caracol describes the Murillo–Manizales route as a road that has become a busy tourist corridor. It quotes Francisco Romero, manager of the Alternativas Viales highway concession, a private company that builds and operates a road under contract, as saying the road reaches 4,100 meters near El Sifon.
Romero explains that travelers heading from Murillo to La Esperanza have Los Nevados National Natural Park on the left and a forest reserve on the right. He adds that builders worked in a sensitive area without harming the protected zones, a claim that rests on his account alone. That detail matters because high-altitude roads often cross fragile ecosystems, so the way Colombia builds and manages them can affect water supplies far beyond the mountains.
The report also places the road in a global context. According to Guinness World Records, the world’s highest road is Umling La in Ladakh, India, at 5,798 meters. A border roads organization built it in 2021. At that altitude, the air contains significantly less oxygen than at sea level, so visitors may need time to acclimatize. Colombia’s road is much lower, but it is still high enough for many travelers to feel the effects of altitude.
Why Colombia’s highest road records differ
The disagreement stems partly from definitions, as different sources measure different types of roads. The 3,860-meter figure cited by El Tiempo, which came from Invias, the national roads agency, describes a road crossing the Almorzadero paramo on the Troncal Central del Norte. The route is part of a 305-kilometer project spanning 23 municipalities in Boyaca, Santander and Norte de Santander.
A cycling guide to the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy identifies a pass between Chita and El Cocuy as Colombia’s highest legal road crossing, at about 4,240 meters, although the route has unpaved sections. Farther south, Alto de Letras reaches about 3,700 meters, and cycling guides describe it as the world’s longest paved climb, even though it is not the highest.
Caracol itself gives two figures for the Murillo–Manizales route: 4,149 and 4,100 meters. The latter comes from a concession manager’s statement rather than an official survey. Colombia therefore has several potential contenders, and the answer depends on the criteria used. Until Colombia publishes an official list distinguishing its highest paved and unpaved roads, travelers should treat the reported elevations as estimates.