Ciudad Perdida consists of a series of 169 terraces carved into the mountainside, a network of tiled roads, and several small circular plazas.

[5][3][6] Members of local tribes – notably the Kogi people – have stated that they visited the site of Ciudad Perdida regularly before it was widely reported, but had kept quiet about it.

Although they are generally referred to as the "Tairona people", there were many groups and settlements spread across the mountains and beaches in distinct, smaller communities (polities) all trading and working together.

Around 1970, some farmers who colonized the lower part of the Sierra Nevada, up to approximately 700 meters above sea level, learned of the possibilities of finding great treasures.

In a short time, some of them organized themselves and without any archaeological preparation, they dedicated themselves to the looting of the Tayrona tombs, an illegal activity called guaquería.

After almost 500 years since the first Europeans landed in America, the mania for getting rich with the gold buried in indigenous tombs continued to kill victims.

Now, groups like the Global Heritage Fund continuously work to protect the historic site against, as the Kogi people would say, "younger brother's" harm.

During the decades of the 1980s and 1990s, due to the boom of drug traffic and contraband, FARC and ELN settled in the zone, creating routes and armies and using forced taxation with the communities as well.

During this time, a peace treaty with the government was in the making for demobilization; however, this allowed for other guerilla groups that were not part of the treaty to get stronger and united; around the same time, right-wing paramilitary groups invaded the region El Mamey, in the north of Ciudad Perdida, creating instability, in the area and a wave of violence between all armed forces.

[10] On 15 September 2003, the ELN kidnapped eight foreign tourists visiting Ciudad Perdida, demanding a government investigation into human rights abuses in exchange for their hostages.

PNN has developed ecotourism strategies to preserve natural resources in accordance with the "parques con la gente" (parks with the people) policy for active social interaction.

Nowadays, this has allowed for the inclusion of larger committees such as the Department of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, PNN, and the Indigenous reservation Kogui-Malayo-Arhuaco, in which they study the tourist occupancy in Teyuna "Ciudad Perdida," does not negatively impact any environmental and cultural aspect.

Indigenous communities play an active role in decision-making about the territory due to the historical and ancestral value of preserving their past heritage.

Since 2009, the non-profit organization Global Heritage Fund (GHF) has been working in Ciudad Perdida to preserve and protect the historic site against climate, vegetation, neglect, looting, and unsustainable tourism.