Diseño del sendero autoguiado El Paseo del Zunfo, parroquia Mulaló, cantón Latacunga, provincia de Cotopaxi.

Abstract

The present technical work aimed to design a self-guided trail El Paseo del Zunfo in Mulaló village, Latacunga Canton, Cotopaxi Province. The development of the trial design had an analytical, descriptive, and prospective research approach. The company Aglomerados Cotopaxi S.A. has 18 thousand hectares of extension in which it has destined 1300 hectares to the Aglomerados Cotopaxi Bike Park area in which, for the first objective, we proceeded to carry out a star diagnosis with areas such as physical-spatial, socio-cultural, territorial ecological, economic-productive and administrative and management. In addition, a situational analysis was carried out using the SWOT Matrix. For the second objective, demand was analyzed by means of a physical and virtual survey using Google Forms, as well as a competition analysis of the nearest self-guided trails with similar characteristics. In the third objective, a self-guided trail was technically designed by means of the location, zoning, type of route, basic standards and modality of the trail, interpretive and rest stops, proposed adequacy of signage and furniture, load capacity, and without neglecting the unit price analysis (APU). The results showed that the infrastructure, áreas, and services of Aglomerados Cotopaxi Bike Park are well-equipped and in good condition; most of the visitors surveyed would like to walk along a self-guided trail. The trail was of the circuit type with 6 interpretive stops and 2 rest stops, and a carrying capacity of 20 people in 4 groups per day was determined, with a reference budget of $21,011.62. It was concluded that Cotopaxi Bike Park has the necessary resources to be interpreted by means of a self-guided trail. It was recommended to control the demand of people at the entrance of the trail in order to avoid damage to it.