There’s a LOT of famous hikes in Peru, but the incredible Colca Canyon trek has managed to fly under the radar. Departing from the mountain town of Cabanaconde, this trail takes you deep into the Colca Canyon, which has a number of impressive titles, including being almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and home to the Andean condor, the largest bird of prey on the planet.
In addition to being a spectacular hike, this trek can also be a bit confusing to plan—it’s kind of a choose-your-own-adventure, ranging from a dayhike to a multi-day hut-to-hut adventure. So if you want to hike one of the best trails in Peru for yourself, here’s everything you need to know about the Colca Canyon Trek.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, we may receive a small commission, for which we are extremely grateful, at no extra cost to you.
The Colca Canyon trek offers an interesting mix to hikers—not only will you hike through what some label as the second deepest canyon in the world, carved by the Rio Colca, but you will also pass remote Indigenous communities and some of the oldest pre-Inca ruins in Peru.
If you’re looking for a bit of an off-the-beaten-track adventure and to see a glimpse into some authentic Peruvian communities, the Colca Canyon Trek should definitely be on your Peru itinerary.
How to Get to the Colca Canyon Trailhead
As mentioned above, there’s a few different itineraries for the Colca Canyon trek, but almost all of them start in the small mountain town of Cabanaconde, Peru. Most travelers reach Cabanaconde from the beautiful colonial city of Arequipa, which is absolutely worth visiting on its own accord.
You have a few different options for getting from Arequipa to Cabanaconde.
Join a tour
There’s a bit of logistical planning required to do the Colca Canyon trek, between booking transportation and accommodations and figuring out your meals along the hike. Accordingly, depending on whether you like planning travel logistics, it might be worth just booking a Colca Canyon tour, where an operator takes care of all that stuff for you.
Here’s some options from Arequipa, depending on how long you have and your appetite for hiking.
- A one day tour, like this option or this option, which generally includes little to no hiking and instead, focuses on enjoying condor lookouts and hot springs!
- A one night-two day trek, like this option or this option, which includes about 10 miles of hiking in the Colca Canyon and an overnight stay in the city of Sangalle, an oasis at the base of the canyon.
- A two night-three day trek, like this option, which includes about 10 miles of hiking in the Colca Canyon and an overnight stay in each the town of San Juan de Chuccho and Sangalle
Just be forewarned that these tours typically have an EARLY morning wake-up call—like, usually 3 AM early!
Take a bus
A more budget-friendly option is to take a bus from Arequipa to Cabanaconde, which generally takes between five and six hours.
To purchase tickets, you’ll need to go to the Arequipa bus station and head to the ticket counter of one of the operators that offer service to Cabanaconde—Andalucia and Transandino. The tickets cost about 30 soles per person one-way.
The most up-to-date schedule that I can find online says that Andalucia buses leave from Arequipa at 12:30 AM, 3:30 AM, and 1:30 PM, whereas Transandino buses leave at 12 AM, 3 AM, and 12:30 PM.
However, I’d strongly suggest going to the bus station at least a day or two before you are headed to Cabanaconde to confirm the bus times and purchase your ticket—it would REALLY suck to show up to the bus station at 3 AM, only for the bus not to be at that time any more!
It’s super common for hikers to take one of the early morning buses to Cabanaconde, so you can hit the trail bright and early. However, if your time in Peru is a bit more flexible, I’d strongly suggest going on either the 12:30 or 1:30 PM bus to Cabanaconde and actually staying the night there, so you can actually get some sleep and be at the trailhead by early morning.
That’s exactly what my husband, Justin, and I did and it was great! We took the 1:30 PM bus from Arequipa and got to Cabanaconde around 6 PM. We had a bit of time to wander around the cobblestone streets of the town, grabbed some dinner, and then promptly passed out at our hotel for the night, Arum Qurpawasi Hospedaje. No need to wake up at 3 AM!
Take a colectivo
If you’re on a budget, you might want to consider taking a colectivo to Cabanaconde instead. A colectivo is a van that holds anywhere from 6-12 people that’s typically not as comfortable or convenient as a bus (i.e., much more squished, without air conditioning, and without a reliable schedule), but also a bit cheaper and quicker.
You’ll first need to get a colectivo from Arequipa to the town of Chivay, which should take about three and a half hours. There’s several colectivo operators in Arequipa that offer this service, like:
- Transportes Centella, with its first daily departure at 5 AM and several departures every hour after that
- Transportes Caminos del Inca, with its first daily departure at 3 AM, with departures on the hour after that
Accordingly, the biggest advantage of taking a colectivo is that you have plenty of options for grabbing one in the morning (let’s say between 6 and 7 AM) and aren’t stuck with the extremely limited early morning bus departures.
These colectivos will typically run you about 20 soles per person.
This colectivo will drop you off at the Chivay bus station. Outside of the station, you should find another colectivo near the terminal entrance that will take you the rest of the two hours to Cabanaconde.
There is no set schedule for these colectivos—drivers typically hang out at the station when buses or colectivos arrive and leave as soon as their vans are full. So don’t panic if there doesn’t happen to be one when you arrive—there eventually will be another!
These colectivos will typically cost you around 10 soles per person.
To be honest, I’ve read a bunch of blog posts about how taking colectivos to Cabanaconde is so much more pleasant than taking the bus—and I really can’t understand why.
Yes, you may be able to save a small amount of money per person if you’re good at negotiating and you hypothetically might get to Cabanaconde faster than on a bus—but you also might not. Colectivos can sit for a LONG time waiting for their vans to fill up and have absolutely no set schedule—so you might be sitting around waiting for a driver to show up for a while.
So, while you can’t convince me colectivos are a better option than the bus, they are indeed a solid choice, especially if you’re on a budget and aren’t on a strict timeframe.
Itinerary options for the Colca Canyon Trek
Most of the Colca Canyon trail options are somewhat similar—you’ll access a trailhead that’s within walking distance from Cabanaconde to hike down into the canyon, walk along the remote communities located along its slopes, and then steeply climb your way back out again.
That being said, there’s a TON of different options that you can pick from when hiking the Colca Canyon, from a one day jaunt to multiple day adventures, with hotel stays in remote towns along the canyon walls. To be honest, it can be a bit overwhelming choosing between them all!
But I’m going to outline the most popular options below—and some of my top recommendations for you to choose!
Two day trekking options
The out-and-back option
- Route: Cabanaconde — Sangalle (stay the night) — Cabanaconde
- Length: 6.3 miles (10.1 km)
- Elevation gain: 3,484 feet (1,061 meters)
- Good for: Hikers that are short on time or don’t want to hike a ton
- Trail map
- Where to stay: Eden Lodge in Sangalle on Night 1
This out-and-back option is the shortest way to hike the Colca Canyon (but it’s still a butt kicker!).
You’ll start at the rim of the canyon, outside Cabanaconde, and hike down a steep cliffside to the lush oasis town of Sangalle, to enjoy some dinner, the views of the surrounding canyon, and one of the town’s incredible pools!
In the morning, you’ll wake up and hike back up the switchbacks you came down yesterday from Cabanaconde. Word of warning—the ascent is STEEP, but your legs shouldn’t be too fried from yesterday!
This is a decent option if you’re short on time, but, in my opinion, you won’t get the full Colca Canyon *experience* with this one. Since it’s the only out-and-back option that’s primarily along the steep slope of a single mountain, you’ll only get to see a small slice of the canyon—but it’s certainly better than nothing!
The Eastern Loop Option
- Route: Cabanaconde — San Juan de Chuccho — Sangalle (stay the night) — Cabanaconde
- Length: 12.7 miles (20.4 km)
- Elevation gain: 5,482 feet (1,670 meters)
- Good for: Hikers that are in good shape that want the full Colca Canyon experience but are short on time
- Trail map
- Where to stay: Eden Lodge in Sangalle on Night 1
With this loop option that focuses on the eastern side of the Colca Canyon, you’ll hike down the canyon for about five hours until you reach the small town of San Juan de Chuccho, where you can grab lunch and admire the views of the surrounding towering walls from one of the local hotels (we enjoyed our food at the Colibri Lodge!).
From here, you’ll press on until you reach the oasis town of Sangalle, which will be your home for the night. Take off your hiking boots (the BEST feeling in the world!) and soak in one of the refreshing pools here!
In the morning, you’ll hike up the steep incline back up to Cabanaconde.
This option is great—you’ll see a pretty significant chunk of the canyon and get to enjoy Sangalle. However, be prepared for your first day on the trail to be loooooong. We did this option, but spread over the course of three days and were still pretty pooped on Day 1!
Three day trekking options
The Relaxed Eastern Loop Option
- Route: Cabanaconde — San Juan de Chuccho (stay the night) — Sangalle (stay the night) —- Cabanaconde
- Length: 12.7 miles (20.4 km)
- Elevation gain: 5,482 feet (1,670 meters)
- Good for: Hikers that want to experience more of the Colca Canyon but have the flexibility to have a more relaxed schedule
- Trail map
- Where to stay: Colibri Lodge in San Juan de Chuccho on Night 1 and Eden Lodge in Sangalle on Night 2
This is the same itinerary as the two-day eastern loop described directly above, but instead of hiking all the way to Sangalle on Night 1, you’ll stay in San Juan de Chuccho and then make your way to Sangalle on Night 2.
This is the option that Justin and I chose and REALLY enjoyed it. We spent about half our days hiking and the other half relaxing at the small local hotels and enjoying the beautiful views of the canyon. If you want to have an adventure but on a slightly more relaxed schedule, this is a great choice!
If you want to see more about our experience, we made a whole YouTube video about it:
The Full Loop Option
- Route: Cabanconde—Llahuar (stay the night) — San Juan de Chuccho (stay the night) — Cabanaconde
- Length: 19.6 miles (31.5 km)
- Elevation gain: 6,811 feet (2,076 meters)
- Good for: Hikers that are fit and want to see as much of the Colca Canyon as they possibly can
- Trail map
- Where to stay: Casa de Virginia in Llahuar on Night 1 and Colibri Lodge in San Juan de Chuccho on Night 2
This loop trail is the longest of the most popular Colca Canyon routes, meaning this is your best option if you want to see as MUCH of the landscape as possible. Plus, you’ll get to experience the riverside hot springs in the tiny town of Llahuar, which is definitely a highlight!
The only significant downside of this option is that you’ll miss Sangalle (unless you want to tack on an additional 4.2 mile or 6.8 km detour to the town), which was one of my favorite parts of this trail. It’s seriously SO much fun to jump into a cool pool after a long day of hiking!
You may be tempted to hike this trail counter-clockwise, so that you can enjoy the hot springs of Llahuar on Night 2. However, this option saves a LOT of the elevation (3,852 feet or 1,174 meters) for day 3, when your legs may be sore and tired—so clockwise would be our recommendation for this one!
The Highlights Option
- Route: Cabanaconde—Llahuar (stay the night) — Sangalle (stay the night) — Cabanaconde
- Length: 16.1 miles
- Elevation gain: 6,200 feet
- Good for: Active hikers that want to experience all of the perks that the Colca Canyon trek has to offer
- Trail map
- Where to stay: Casa de Virginia in Llahuar on Night 1 and Eden Lodge in Sangalle on Night 2
This loop trail focuses on the western half of the Colca Canyon and manages to squeeze in both of the coolest aspects of this trail—the hot springs of Llahuar AND the oasis pools of Sangalle.
It also provides a challenging level of hiking without being quite as hard or as long as the Full Loop option above, with a steep descent on Day 1 and more manageable climb up on Days 2 and 3.
If I were to do the Colca Canyon trek again, I think I’d probably go for this option, as we’ve already done the eastern loop trail—plus, it’s kind of hard to beat the hot springs and pool double whammy!
When to hike the Colca Canyon Trek
The best time to hike the Colca Canyon trail is in the dry season, from May through October, when you have a decent chance of sunny skies and mildly pleasant temperatures. It also happens to be the best time to spot condors here!
Justin and I visited during the shoulder season of April and had PERFECT weather—the canyon was green and filled with colorful springtime flowers, plus there was hardly anyone else on the trail!
Regardless of when you visit, be sure to bring PLENTY of water. There is NO shade for long stretches of the trail, and the sun and the heat can be pretty intense, even in the cooler months. Plus, the trail is fairly high altitude (Cabanaconde is at over 10,700 feet or 3,261 meters above sea level), so staying hydrated is important to avoid negative impacts of the extreme altitude.
Tips for the Colca Canyon Trek
You’ll need to buy a ticket to the canyon
When we were planning our trip, for some reason, we didn’t see this important aspect listed anywhere. In order to hike into the canyon, you’ll need to buy a ticket to the Colca Canyon, cash only.
It costs:
- 70 soles for foreigner tourists
- 40 soles for Latin American tourists
- 20 soles for Peruvian tourists
There’s an attendant stationed at the main trailheads and exit points who checks and confirms that you have a ticket. Which brings me to my next point…
Bring enough cash
Many hotels and restaurants in Cabanaconde or the Colca Canyon do not accept credit cards and the ones that do accept them charge an incremental service fee (usually, between 3-7%).
There’s unfortunately no ATMs in Cabanaconde—the closest ATM is in the city of Chivay, over an hour away from Cabanaconde, and it’s frequently out of service. Accordingly, I’d suggest bringing sufficient cash with you from Arequipa.
Acclimate for a day or two
If you’re coming from a low altitude area immediately before hiking the Colca Canyon, I’d suggest acclimating in Arequipa or Cabanaconde for a day or two to adjust to the higher altitude before tackling the trek.
Since most travelers come to Cabanaconde from Arequipa (which is at a fairly high altitude), this generally shouldn’t be an issue, but it is something to keep in mind if you’re coming directly to hike the trail from somewhere near sea level, like Lima or Paracas.
Hike the eastern routes counter-clockwise
As mentioned above, we hiked the relaxed eastern loop option described above and, as we were hiking, kept wondering why seemingly EVERYONE hiked the trail counter-clockwise.
It turns out, by hiking the trail in that direction, your steep climb out of the canyon, from Sangalle to Cabanaconde, will be in the shade pretty much all morning, making the 3,530 foot climb feel much more manageable. Conversely, if you hike the trail clockwise, ascending from San Juan de Chuccho to Cabanaconde, you will be exposed to the sun for the entirety of your climb, making the steep ascent feel that much more challenging.
Stop at the Mirador del Condor in the morning
If seeing Andean condors is important to you, most of the trail isn’t really the best spot to spot them. We briefly saw a glimpse of one along the easternmost portion of the trail, but otherwise, the locals around San Juan de Chucco, Sangalle, and Cabanconde told us there usually weren’t any condors around those areas.
The best place to see condors here is at the Mirador del Condor, which is about 20 minutes outside of Cabanconde. Condors tend to catch the warm currents around this area of the canyon around 7 AM to 10 AM—you have a really good chance of spotting them here around this period of time!
The easiest way to get to this mirador is by joining a tour, like this one day, this two day, or this three day option, which generally stop here on their way to Cabanaconde.
If you don’t want to go on a tour, I’d suggest staying the night in Cabanconde before your trek, grabbing a taxi to the viewpoint in the morning, and then getting a ride to the trailhead. Your hotel can help you arrange a taxi, which should cost somewhere around 80 soles roundtrip.
What to pack for the Colca Canyon Trek
Unlike most multi-day hikes, you theoretically have to bring pretty little on the trail, given that you’ll pass hotels or stands that offer shelter, food, and water along the way.
Still, you should come prepared with adequate gear so that you can safely enjoy the trail. We actually wrote an entire Colca Canyon packing list, but, in a nutshell, be sure to bring:
- Hiking boots (his and hers)
- Trekking poles—your knees will thank me later!
- Refillable water bottle
- Sun protection, including sunglasses, sunscreen, and a hat
- Rechargeable head lamp
- Cell phone, charging brick, and cable
- Snacks
- Swimsuit
- Shampoo—neither of the lodges that we stayed at provided this in the showers
- Cash
- Warm layers for the early mornings and evenings
There you have it—everything you need to know about the Colca Canyon trek. Do you have any questions about this unique adventure? Let us know in the comments below!
