Reserva Arenillas | Informal Campsite

May 6th, 2024 by prunepermanne

Great place to spend a night (or more!). Large parking area with grass, all facilities available (water, toilets, shower,….) and a great time to welcome you there. Highly recommended !
We have a big rig, 4m high. The access track is narrow but feasible. We broke some thin branches in passing...

March 31st, 2024 by jubiladosxelmundo

Es un lugar maravilloso con naturaleza aves y zorritos, senderos para pasear, agua, energía, duchas, wifi, y excelente atención, es gratuito. ❤️☀️🌿🇪🇨

November 16th, 2023 by Juanchopp

beautiful and peacefully place to stay. we came with our kombi and another travelers with a car and a pet. the guard let the pet in so was very nice.
besides we could make our laundry and enjoy of savage dog came in sometimes.

October 29th, 2023 by @jugar_viajando

Lindo lugar para parar, estar en el medio del bosque seco con zorritos, iguanas y aves hermosas.
Muy cómodo, seguro y gratis!

October 4th, 2023 by 3paarschuheauf4raedern.de

very nice Spot, shower, baño, WiFi and everything for free! beautiful ❤️

October 3rd, 2023 by dandovueltasfotos.com

🇪🇸 Buen lugar para descansar con duchas, baños, lugar para lavar ropa y wifi todo gratis!
🇬🇧 Good place to rest with showers, toilets and wifi, all for free!

September 11th, 2023 by RdamNatas Panamericana NL

Supernice quiet spot. Can be hot. Have been here for 4 days. Shower is nice (lot of water!) Only thing is that it seems that people are using it to pee in. Smells like a urinoir (mens toilet) sometimes. Had to clean it ourselves twice because of the smell of pee. There is also a perfectly clean toilet on the other side of the campspots, so why this happens no idea.

August 30th, 2023 by Ezcheese

We missed the turn heading south at night and had to double back. Hard to see it in the dark. Really nice place and very friendly park rangers.

August 15th, 2023 by learose1997

Awesome place!! Free! Clean cold showers, refreshing. Clean toilets with toilet paper and soap.
2 pathways that you can walk, 1.6km and 3km.
No problem to bring your dog with.
We enjoyed our stay. Was quite only one other camper. Friendly people
And good Wi-Fi

July 12th, 2023 by Jimmytravelsaround

completely disagree with the comment below from skytraintovenus. what a great place if you like nature. There were only some mosquitos in the evening. but there is also something called repellent if you really need it. There is wifi (maybe not the strongest) but good enough from the table right next to the camping area. But I think that's not why you come here. Great animals to observe. both treks were in good condition to hike. toilet are clean and everything is for free and safe.

July 7th, 2023 by pathsofrosie

This place is perfect to spend a quiet night before or after crossing the border. The government runs this reserva and they are very welcoming to overlanders. There are toilets, showers and even electricity.

June 11th, 2023 by skytraintovenus

place is ok although I believe they need to collect garbage(?)even the shower was full.If I knew there was soo much mosquitoes honestly I was not gona come! ended up staying inside camper all evening and the night was a fight to kill them!!from parking lot or outside I couldnt get wifi yet.I see the fox maybe was the best thing ...

June 9th, 2023 by AlmaVet_movil

Nos quedamos 2 noches en este paraíso. El lugar es hermoso con mucha fauna y flora, los guarda parques son muy amigables (hay que registrarse cuando se llega) y además tenemos acceso a agua, electricidad, wifi, wc, ducha.. gratis!
Siempre hubieron viajeros mientras estuvimos, incluso carpas.
Nos hubiéramos quedado más tiempo pero el calor húmedo es bastante pesado para nosotros y habían muchos mosquitos.

May 15th, 2023 by milene

We spent one night here, it’s very peaceful. We arrived late so we met the park rangers in the morning. They are very nice and welcoming, gave us tips and recommendations for visiting Ecuador.
The parking space is big enough for several rigs, clean bathrooms and shower. Shower is at the building with the big veranda with animal photos. Cool water but it’s very refreshing given the heat.
Both trails were not cleaned all the way so the rangers told us to walk a bit and then come back the same way, otherwise it’s U-shaped trails.
We saw the little fox that came in the morning, one squirrel and many birds. If you want to see more birds wake up around 6.
Coming from Peru - don’t trust google
maps, continue on the main highway and turn right when you see the sign for the Reserve and then follow the signs on the unpaved road.

January 24th, 2023 by hakunamatatxelmundo

Good place to relax if you come from Peru. We stayed here 2 nights, very quiet and peaceful. There is Wi-Fi but if you need to work… don’t trust on it.
However, you have water and electricity.

Buen lugar para relajar si venis desde Peru. Estuvimos acá 2 noche, muy tranquilo y mucha paz. Hay Wi-Fi, pero si lo necesitas para trabajar… no cuentes con el.
Sin embargo, hay agua y electricidad

January 23rd, 2023 by proyectonomadacombi

Llegamos un Lunes a las 6 p.m., el personal deja de laborar a las 4 o 5 p.m. no recuerdo pero el parque está abierto 24hrs puedes llegar y parquear y al día siguiente el guardaparques te explica los servicios y los senderos que hay.
Es muy tranquilo el lugar, nosotros pasamos a descansar 1 noche antes de cruzar frontera a Perú

December 30th, 2022 by viajando.para.vivir

El lugar está increíble, tiene dos senderos de dificultad baja para hacer. Vimos muchos animales. Dormimos en el sector para motorhome. Calor y muchos mosquitos. Tiene baños, ducha fría, electricidad, WiFi y el personal es muy amable. Gratis
.
The place is incredible, it has two low difficulty trails to do. We saw many animals. We slept in the motorhome sector. Heat and many mosquitoes. It has toilets, cold shower, electricity, WiFi and the staff is very friendly. Free

December 15th, 2022 by abbyporamerica

Pasamos 3 noches increíbles en esta reserva, lugar ideal para descansar tranquilos y Rodeados de naturaleza. Sentados desde el motorhome hemos visto venados, zorritos, muchas aves y ardillas. Super recomendable, todo muy limpio!Y el personal muy agradable. Un imperdible de vanlife en Ecuador

November 28th, 2022 by mathi

Very peaceful place! Important: Use maps.me to get here. Google Maps doesnt know the way and leads you to roads which does not exist. Free. Bathroom okay. Wifi doesnt work.

October 21st, 2022 by sabrina.fischer

Great place for staying the night before crossing the border to Peru. It's nice, quiet and very safe.

October 11th, 2022 by Simbali-Expedition

Very beautiful and well maintained area! Also super friendly rangers!! They have one "cold" shower, and Almost brand new bathrooms! We were able to stay with our 2 dogs no problem, but they have to stay in the parking area with a leash! For us not an issue! Also others overlanders with 2 dogs as well and one local family with one Yorkshire (they stay only during the afternoon) . Super recommend the stay here ! And everything for free! We did the longest walk and we didn't see any animals though but still worth it!!!

October 9th, 2022 by unvelosolex

Very nice place indeed! Safe, quiet, lots of fauna.

September 14th, 2022 by @alyvanblake

I highly recommend stopping by even if it's just to walk the trails. one is a 30 minutes and 1 is an hour. still free to camp. no other visitors when we were there. friendly park rangers. the forest is dormant and appears dead, but there is tons of life in here. we saw lots of new bird species, for us, as well as some deer, fox, and a anteater. the water in the bathroom was turned off. in a separate building there are showers that worked, but it's pretty filthy inside. this place can only be accessed from the 4km dirt road from the northwest. the other roads shown on Google maps don't actually exist. dog friendly in the parking lot, but not allowed to go on the trails.

September 1st, 2022 by viaje.capitulo.1

Excelente lugar para conocer y pasar la noche!!
los guías de la reserva son amables. hay baños, hay electricidad, hay duchas, tenés para hacer varias caminatas. la entrada y estadía es gratuita. La Reserva está muy. bien cuidada y mantenida.
Hay que llevar la comida que vayas a necesitar y un poco de agua, ya que no hay despensa, almacén o venta de comida.
muy silencioso y miles de aves!!

August 26th, 2022 by sannerosalie

One of the best places we’ve stayed in Ecuador, offers a shower and bathroom and the site is so peaceful and quiet!

September 5th, 2019 by contactoirie365

Wonderful place, very safe and clean. Omar and Aldo are the best park rangers, they share a lot with us. We arrive just for 1 night but finally we passed 5 nights 😁 this place really catches you.
Everything is for free. In the natural reserve you can find deers, a lot of birds and other animals, really is a beautiful place to rest.

August 25th, 2019 by m-e-a-j.com

Fairly large parking where many van/rvs can park. The bosque seco is very nice and the guardaparques are very nice and happy to welcome travelers to stay from one night to a couple of weeks for some! We were coming from Peru so it was a great way to begin our trip in Ecuador. (Then go to Happy Fruit, Finca Agro Ecologica! Best fruits you’ll in all South America!)

August 7th, 2019 by laale.0824

El lugar es precioso, muuuuy tranquilo, se siente una paz hermosa... hay baños limpios, duchas con agua fría, agua potable... todo lo que necesitamos! y sobre todo, los guardaparques son unos genios! nos atendieron super bien y nos brindaron su ayuda en todo momento... Un lugar para volver sin dudas!

July 27th, 2019 by cultivandosur

Beautiful place full of nature and birds singing.

Los baños super limpios, el personal super amable.

Tuvimos la posibilidad de ver perros de monte (zorritos) durante la mañana. Hasta uno se robo una de mis ojotas durante la noche!! Así que no dejen nada el piso.

Al toque de la frontera, para llegar mo le hagan caso a google maps! Desde la carretera hay un cartel de ingreso!

June 9th, 2019 by instagram.com/muchoporvivirfamiliaviajera

Hermosa reserva; fuimos muy bien recibidos por sus guardaparques; variedad de animales y aves alrededor, senderos para hacer caminatas, baños y duchas; todo gratuito; ideal para el descanso y el contacto con la naturaleza

April 3rd, 2019 by Run Run Andante

Excellent place!! The rangers are very friendly. You have electricity, shower, bathroom and a place in middle of nature free. Very recommended.

Excelente lugar. Los guardaparques son muy simpáticos!. Tienes electricidad, duchas, baños y un lugar en el medio de la naturaleza gratis. Muy recomendado

March 18th, 2019 by michaeldconnolly83

Pulled in 3pm Saturday and had such a friendly welcome. Other overlanders there with huge rigs so no real size restrictions. BUT the mosquitos... man! we had to leave and ended up shooting into Peru for a couple of nights on the coast. Free

March 3rd, 2019 by semillaviajeraencuadernaciones

reserva ecologica arenillas is a perfect place to spend a few days and relax. The rangers are very friendly. there are two trails and a lot of mosquitoes. the reserva is open from 8am to 5pm to visit but if you are going to camp, there isn't time restriction to arrive.

March 3rd, 2019 by instagram

Great spot. A few kilometers after the aduana,you can find this beautiful natural reserve. We stay here 4 nights,the rangers super friendly, toilets,showers,electricity, all available and free.
Ideal to relax and connect with nature. You have some trekkings to do. Lot of mosquitos but you can handle it.
Súper recomendable!!

February 23rd, 2019 by kristendyck

Great spot to camp before or after the border. Super quiet, all you’ll hear are birds and crickets. Very friendly people here, they invited us in for humitos and coffee. Trails through the park. Highly recommend for the night.

January 14th, 2019 by www.artnic.com.br

Wonderfull area. Friendly Rangers, safety place. All faciliteis (energy, water, bathroom, duchas) and clean. No problem to big Rigs, but the acess road is a little bit narrow, with many trees go ahead. We recomend.

December 13th, 2018 by corytuddenham

Quiet and free with showers and washroom. The ranger gave us coffee. Good spot before crossing over to Peru. If you are driving towards Peru, it is a left hand turn a couple minutes after the gas station.

November 27th, 2018 by there.today

Perfect tranquil place to stay after a long border crossing from Peru. Easy 4km dirt road off the main road. Google Maps doesn't know how to get here, use Maps.me instead. Clean bathrooms, cold shower, plugs near the bathroom if needed. Ranger was friendly and there a couple of short trails nearby. Free.

October 1st, 2018 by rightwaytoguabiruba

We spend the night before go to the border. Perfect place, clean bathroom, cold shower, safe and quiet.

July 10th, 2018 by norththensouth.com

Perfect place before crossing to Peru the next day. Peaceful, quiet, clean. The caretaker even gave us some free fruit when we arrived.

June 17th, 2018 by Sur-la-route-des-ameriques.com

Good place for nature and tranquility. Open space within a wood with interesting birds, trees and more. Very peacefull. We like this park a lot.

March 29th, 2018 by TDOverland

Nice place to walk and sleep. Pretty quiet but damn hot!!!

February 1st, 2018 by Calderescapes

Nature reserve that allows camping in the parking area. This was apparently on iOverlander previously but was marked closed and no longer showed up for us. You can stay here free, with bathrooms, a shower and get electricity if you park near the large palapa. it's 4km off the highway and closest quiet spot we could find before making a run for Peru next day. Bano has a seat but no paper.