[2] It was declared a National Park of Colombia in 1977 because of its importance as a biodiversity hotspot and main source of water for the most densely populated area of the country, the Bogotá savanna.

During the 16th century, German adventurer and conquistador Nikolaus Federmann conducted an expedition crossing the Sumapaz, searching for El Dorado mythic treasure, with heavy casualties, where men, both Spaniards and indigenous, and horses, died of cold.

The place was named by the Spaniards "País de la Niebla" ("Country of Fog")[3] because of the dense clouds at ground level, with great decrease in visibility.

Other scientists that described and studied Sumapaz páramo were Ernesto Guhl, who conducted a long-term 3-decade research of the vegetal communities, and Thomas van der Hammen.

The rainy season lasts almost the entire year, except from December to February, when the sunlight reaches a peak, with intense ultraviolet radiation (adaptations such as white, glassy coloration help the local plants to survive).

The eastern part of Sumapaz consists of Devonian metamorphic rock formations, with fault scarped configuration, and alpine landscapes.

During the Last Glacial Maximum, the glacier motion of the ice sheets through the Tunjuelo valley reached as far as Usme (today part of Bogotá).

[8] The endangered spectacled bear lives in Sumapaz, its main source of food being the Puya boyacana fruits and the Espeletia plant stems, (known as caulirosule).

Although the soil and climate are adverse for agriculture and other economic activities, human settlements do exist in the Sumapaz Páramo, including the villages of San Juan de Sumapaz, Nazareth, Santa Rosa and El Hato (only the first two have road access) with an estimated 1200 families, most of them under the poverty threshold, living on less than $1.25 per day, without schools or sanitation.

[9] In 1950, president Mariano Ospina Pérez ordered the Colombian banks not to approve loans destined to establishment of crops or cattle at altitudes higher than 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) as an attempt to discourage such activities.

However, the presence of the Colombian army has generated controversy over the environmental impact, with alleged destruction of the frailejones, whose leaves are supposedly collected by the soldiers for making rudimentary mattresses to sleep on.