Caño Cristales, in Colombia’s Meta department, is the river people call the “River of Five Colours” or the “liquid rainbow”. For a few months each year its bed turns red, pink and purple beneath clear water, with yellow sand, green plants, black rock and blue pools completing the palette.

Red aquatic plants beneath clear water at Caño Cristales, Colombia

Where Caño Cristales is

The river rises in the Serranía de la Macarena, an isolated mountain range in central Colombia, and runs for about 100 kilometres before joining the Guayabero River, part of the Orinoco basin. It lies inside Sierra de La Macarena National Natural Park, a protected area of 619,553 hectares spread across six municipalities, close to the town of La Macarena.

The rocks it flows over are quartzite, around 1.2 billion years old. The current has carved them into rapids, small waterfalls and round “giant’s kettles”, pits worn into the riverbed by swirling stones. The water is unusually clear because it carries very few nutrients or particles.

Why the river turns red

The colour comes from Rhyncholacis clavigera, formerly known as Macarenia clavigera, an aquatic plant that clings to the rocks. It grows only in Caño Cristales and a few nearby streams such as Caño Siete Machos. Young plants are green; as the water level and sunlight change between the wet and dry seasons they turn yellowish and then deep red.

When the water is too high the plants are hidden, and when it is too low they dry out. The display is strongest when the level sits in between, usually from about July into November. The national parks authority opened the 2026 visiting season on 29 May, running until December.

Red plants visible through flowing water in the Caño Cristales riverbed
A circular cascade surrounded by red river plants at Caño Cristales

Closed for years, open since 2009

The river was off-limits to tourists for years because of FARC guerrilla activity in the region and concerns about unregulated visits. It reopened in 2009, and numbers have grown steadily, from around 4,000 visitors in 2012 to more than 16,000 in 2016. Today visits are tightly managed by the park, with guided routes and limited access.

How to visit: flights, trails and guides

There is no practical road to the river. Visitors fly to La Macarena, usually on charter or regional flights from Villavicencio, and continue with a local guide. Packages should be bought only from the 42 tourism agencies in La Macarena authorised by the park.

The main trails include Salto del Águila, Los Pianos, Intermedio, Caño Escondido, Caño Cajuche and Los Pailones. Natural pools and falls along the way carry names such as Piscina del Turista, Carol Cristal and Manto de la Virgen. Expect walks of roughly 5 to 10 kilometres and 5 to 7 hours, rated medium to high difficulty, so a reasonable level of fitness helps.

Two rules matter most. Leave sunscreen, insect repellent, creams and make-up off on the day, because the chemicals harm the plants; cover up with long sleeves and a hat instead. And get a yellow fever vaccination before you travel.

A rounded pool surrounded by pink-red aquatic plants
Red aquatic plants, pale riverbed and blue water in Caño Cristales
Water cascading over red plant-covered rock into a pool

More around La Macarena

The park offers more than the famous river. Caño Cristalitos, reached on the Mirador–Cristalitos trail, is a smaller version with rock paintings along the way. Laguna del Silencio has community-run trails through savanna and gallery forest, and the Raudal de Angosturas on the Guayabero River is known for its petroglyphs. In November, La Macarena holds a festival for Vellozia tubiflora, a fire-resistant plant with a white, six-petalled flower.

Red plants along a narrow channel between exposed rocks at Caño Cristales
Close view of a hand beneath strands of the red river plant Rhyncholacis clavigera
Photo: Wikipedia

For another river with an extraordinary colour, explore Río Celeste in Costa Rica. If your South American plans lean towards wide-open landscapes, our Salar de Uyuni guide covers the world’s largest salt flat.

Sources

Photo credit: Wikipedia (plant close-up).