On the southern edge of the city, the Universidad Nacional de Loja manages a large botanical and ecological park that serves as both a research station and a public recreation area. The park contains cloud forest habitats with trails through native vegetation, a botanical garden with labelled specimens of the region's flora, and a weather station.
The birds here are excellent — the cloud forest edge habitat attracts a range of Andean species including hummingbirds, tanagers, and woodpeckers. It is a good warm-up before a longer excursion into Podocarpus National Park, and the trails are well-maintained and easy to navigate without a guide.