The ecoregion covers the slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the north of Colombia, with an area of 492,097 hectares (1,216,000 acres).

[2] The triangular Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta massif covers 12,230 square kilometres (4,720 sq mi) and rises to an elevation of 5,775 metres (18,947 ft), with peaks that are permanently capped in snow.

The southwestern edge descends to the dry and warm Magdalena River alluvial plain and the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta marshes.

The north side receives the most precipitation, up to 3,000 millimetres (120 in) annually at 1,000 to 1,500 metres (3,300 to 4,900 ft) above sea level, with less rain higher up and to the south of the massif.

[3] On the drier western side forests at elevations from 800 to 1,000 metres (2,625 to 3,281 ft) above sea level have large trees including Poulsenia armata, red ucuuba (Virola sebifera), Pterygota colombiana, muskwood (Guarea guidonia), Panama rubber tree (Castilla elastica), Ficus macrosyce, avocado (Persea americana) and Andean royal palm (Dictyocaryum lamarckianum).

Above 900 metres (2,953 ft) the trees and palms are smaller, and include Zygia longifolia, forest acai (Euterpe precatoria), Súrtuba (Geonoma interrupta) and spiny treefern (Cyathea pungens).

Other cloud forest tree species include palo azul (Calatola costaricensis), Cavendishia callista, Graffenrieda santamartensis, Gustavia speciosa and Tovomita weddelliana.

Typical tree species are wax palm (Ceroxylon ceriferum), Chaetolepis santamartensis, Chusquea tuberculosa, Hesperomeles ferruginea, Monochaetum uberrimum, Myrcianthes myrsinoides, Myrsine coriacea, Paragynoxys undatifolia, Pino de Pasto (Podocarpus oleifolius) and Weinmannia pinnata.

Bryophytes and lichens include Anastrophyllum auritum, Musgo (Campylopus benedictii), bonfire moss (Funaria hygrometrica) and Hypotrachyna gigas.

neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris), Venezuelan red howler (Alouatta seniculus) and white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari).

Endemic mammals include the red-tailed squirrel (Sciurus granatensis), Tomes's rice rat (Nephelomys albigularis) and unicolored Oldfield mouse (Thomasomys monochromos).

[7] Bird species include bay-headed tanager (Tangara gyrola), black-chested jay (Cyanocorax affinis), blue-billed curassow (Crax alberti), coppery emerald (Chlorostilbon russatus), crested guan (Penelope purpurascens), keel-billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus), Santa Marta blossomcrown (Anthocephala floriceps), scarlet-fronted parakeet (Psittacara wagleri) and white-tipped quetzal (Pharomachrus fulgidus).

Birds with restricted ranges include black-backed thornbill (Ramphomicron dorsale), green-bearded helmetcrest (Oxypogon guerinii), montane woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger), mountain velvetbreast (Lafresnaya lafresnayi), Santa Marta parakeet (Pyrrhura viridicata), strong-billed woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes promeropirhynchus), white-tipped quetzal (Pharomachrus fulgidus) and yellow-crowned whitestart (Myioborus flavivertex).

The wet forest of the lower levels has been reduced to thinned-out fragments by settlements, marijuana and coca cultivation, logging, extraction of firewood and conversion to pasture.

Higher up, the Ancho and Frío river basins and other parts of the cloud forest have been modified to make space for sheep and cattle rearing, farming of potatoes and fruit, and extraction of wood.

The indigenous reserves of the Cogui, Arsario and Arhuaco people overlap the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park.