Best Rainbow Mountain Hike 1 Day

Sometimes Mother Nature produces a display of color so vibrant and so varied, that it seems almost impossible that it could have occurred naturally. Yet as your eyes fall upon the beauty of Peru´s Rainbow Mountains (known locally as Vinicunca) is quite literally looking at millions of years of geological history and a natural wonder seen almost nowhere else on Earth.

By far the best way to experience the stunning vistas of Vinicunca is via the Cusipata trail. This challenging but spectacular trail winds through remote Andean villages with their beautiful adobe style houses, passes herds of wild Llamas and Alpacas grazing on the mountainside, and continually rewards us with views of the magnificent Ausangate Glacier. Standing at over 6,300m (20,900ft) this is the highest mountain in the Cusco region.

To make the most of our time on the trail and at the rainbow mountain, our day will start before dawn. Collecting you from your Cusco hotel at around 4:00 AM, we make a 3-hour drive through the South Valley to the trailhead at Llacto (4,638m / 15,216 ft). Our transportation is comfortable though. Upon reaching the Cusipata village (3,300m/10,826ft), we provide a full continental breakfast, perfect fuel for the hiking ahead.

Our trek beings along a meandering path in the foothills of the magnificent Andes. As dawn continues to break around us, the surrounding herds of Alpacas and Llamas will be waking too and our paths often cross along the way.

The whole area is home to many Fincas (local farms) and there will be opportunities to see traditional Quechua people working the land as they have generations. The surrounding forests are home to some unique fauna and we may see Chinchillas or even Vicuñas (a non-domesticated relative of the llama family found only in South America) so make sure you have your cameras ready. As if all that wasn’t enough, the striking colours of the red mountains are all around us, and provide a spectacular backdrop for this portion of the hike.

After making a challenging ascent for around 1 hour we reach the magnificent Rainbow Mountain of Vinicunca (5,020 m / 16,466 ft). ¡No photoshop or Instagram filters are required here! This awesome display of colour is 100% natural, and completely breathtaking. Taking our time at the summit to take pictures, explore the area or just take in the spectacular views.

Your guide will let you know when it is time to return, and we hike downhill the way we came for around 45 minutes. In a sense though this is an altogether different hike as we take in the views that were behind us on our ascent.

Reaching the trailhead we drive 40 minutes to a local restaurant at Cusipata village where a delicious lunch will be waiting for us.

Finally it’s just a 2 hour drive back to Cusco. We drop you off at your Cusco hotel around 4 PM, weary but with incredible memories of a very unique day.
• Total distance hiked: 8 km / 4.97 miles
• Starting/minimum altitude: 4,638m / 15,216 ft.
• Maximum altitude: 5,020m / 16,466 ft.
• Overall trek difficulty: Challenging