The park includes two very different regions of Ecuador, the high altitude sierra with Cayambe volcano and the hot, humid rainforest of the Amazon basin as well as the intervening temperate cloud forest.

The high level "Ruales-Oleas-Bergé Refuge" is a mountain hut with accommodation for those who wish to climb the volcano, while other attractions include lakes, waterfalls and forests.

An entrance near Papallacta in Napo Province provides access to the forests and lakelets in the Andean foothills and the Páramo, an area of tropical, montane vegetation above the treeline.

A third entrance near Santa Rosa de Quijos provided access to the formerly spectacular San Rafael Falls, once the highest waterfall in the country.

[2] Local habitat types include the grasslands of the páramo and montane cloud forests.