Desierto de La Tatacoa is technically a tropical dry forest rather than a desert. But it sure feels like a desert when you’re riding the hot, dusty, sandy trails that rise and fall as they traverse a largely barren landscape full of amazing sand and rock formations, with seemingly infinite layers of mountains in the distance to the east and west. The route avoids a long segment of busy (and dull) main road if you’re heading into or out of the department of Huila, and is great fun as a standalone trip too. It follows a paved b-road out of Neiva, before turning off onto a dirt trail that loops around the desert and then heads north again on gravel through some picturesque villages on the luscious plains to the east of the River Magdalena. Just before the end of the route you go across an old rail bridge and down a narrow abandoned tunnel before coming out onto the main road to Bogotá. There are a few guesthouses and campsites in the desert, and a multitude of places you can wild-camp far from anyone and anything under some amazing night skies.

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