Trek Cusco Region — Vilcabamba Range, Peru

The Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu

Five days around a 6,271 m ice giant — a glacial pass at about 4,630 m, a turquoise lake, and a long drop into cloud forest, all the way to Machu Picchu without a permit lottery.

Duration: 5 days
Distance: 74 km
Ascent: 3200 m
Difficulty: Hard
Best season: Dry season May–September (rainy season November–March brings mud and landslides)

When the Inca Trail’s permits sell out, the Salkantay Trek is where people go — and many come back arguing it is the better walk. It circles Salcantay, the highest peak of the Vilcabamba range at 6,271 m, whose name comes from Quechua for something like ‘wild’ or ‘savage’. Over five days the route climbs from dry Andean farmland to a glacial pass at about 4,630 m, then spends two days falling through cloud forest into coffee and avocado country before arriving at Machu Picchu from the west.

The appeal is the range of it. You start in high, thin, brown country under hanging glaciers and finish among hummingbirds and orchids, and you feel every metre of that transition in the air.

Getting there. Fly to Cusco via Lima and acclimatize for at least two days — this is not optional. Transport runs from Cusco to Mollepata (about 2,900 m) and usually continues up the rough road to the Challakancha trailhead. You return from Aguas Calientes by train to Ollantaytambo, then by road to Cusco.

Permits & tickets. There is no permit lottery and no cap on numbers — the trek’s main draw over the Inca Trail. A small community fee is collected near Mollepata, and campsites charge a few soles. You can walk it independently, though most go with an operator. Your Machu Picchu entrance ticket is separate, timed, and should be booked well ahead.

Good to know:

The Salkantay Pass, at about 4,630 m, is higher than anything on the Inca Trail. Altitude, not steepness, is what turns people back.
Weather is genuinely two-sided: freezing at the pass, humid and warm in the cloud forest. Pack for both.
Day 5 offers a choice — climb about 400 m of stone steps from Aguas Calientes to the citadel, or take the bus.

Day 1

Mollepata to Soraypampa & Humantay Lake

Mollepata (about 2,900 m) → Soraypampa (about 3,850 m) 13 km ↑ 900 m

Navigate this day

Transport from Cusco delivers you to the trailhead above Mollepata. A steady walk along an irrigation-canal path brings the first sight of Salcantay’s ice, then camp at Soraypampa, with an afternoon climb to Humantay Lake to help the body adjust.

Segments

Challakancha to Soraypampa 7 km ↑ 400 m 📍 Map

Challakancha trailhead → Soraypampa

Canal path and open Andean valley

From the road-head above Mollepata, follow a gently rising path beside an irrigation canal with the valley opening ahead. Salcantay's south face appears late in the walk and is the first real sense of what the week holds. About 3 hours.

About this place

Mollepata District is one of nine districts of the province Anta, in the Department of Cuzco, in Peru. The Mollepata trek or Salkantay trek, an alternative route to the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, passes through the Vilcabamba Range from Mollepata to Santa Teresa. The Mollepata trek is considered harder than the Classic trek because of its height and remoteness.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Mariolimber · CC BY-SA 4.0
Humantay Lake detour 6 km ↑ 500 m 📍 Map

Soraypampa → Humantay Lake (about 4,200 m) and back

Steep moraine switchbacks

A short, steep afternoon climb up moraine to a glacial lake sitting under Humantay, a 5,473 m peak in the Vilcabamba Range. The meltwater is a startling turquoise. It is hard work at this altitude but pays for itself the next morning. About 3 hours return.

About this place

Humantay is a 5,473 metres (17,956 ft) mountain in the Vilcabamba Range in the Andes of Peru. It is located in the region of Cusco.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗

Day 2

The Salkantay Pass

Soraypampa → Collpapampa (about 2,900 m) 22 km ↑ 800 m

Navigate this day

A steady morning climb under the glaciers to Abra Salkantay, the trek’s high point, followed by a very long drop out of the alpine zone into the first green of the eastern valleys.

Segments

Ascent to Abra Salkantay 7 km ↑ 800 m 📍 Map

Soraypampa → Salkantay Pass (about 4,630 m)

Rocky alpine switchbacks

Switchback up a bare, rocky valley directly beneath the hanging glaciers of Salcantay to the pass at about 4,630 m — the highest point of the trek and higher than anything on the Inca Trail. Set off early: cloud usually closes in by mid-morning. About 4 hours.
The long descent east 15 km ↑ 0 m 📍 Map

Salkantay Pass → Collpapampa

Rough valley track, increasingly green

A long, knee-testing descent that drops roughly 1,700 m off the pass. Rock and grass give way to scrub, then to the first trees as the route enters the humid eastern side of the range. About 5 hours.

Day 3

Into the cloud forest

Collpapampa → Lucmabamba (about 2,000 m) 16 km ↑ 300 m

Navigate this day

The recovery day. The trail follows the Santa Teresa river valley through genuine cloud forest, past waterfalls and granadilla vines, to the coffee-growing settlement of Lucmabamba.

Segments

Riverside jungle path 11 km ↑ 200 m 📍 Map

Collpapampa → La Playa

Cloud forest trail

Follow the river down through dense cloud forest — orchids, bromeliads, hummingbirds, and waterfalls dropping straight onto the path. The temperature climbs noticeably with every hour. About 4 hours.

About this place

A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level, formally described in the International Cloud Atlas (2017) as silvagenitus. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and vegetation, in which case they are also referred to as mossy forests. Mossy forests usually develop on the saddles of mountains, where moisture introduced by settling clouds is more effectively retained.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. NepGrower~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 2.5
Coffee country 5 km ↑ 100 m 📍 Map

La Playa → Lucmabamba

Farm track through plantations

A short walk through coffee, banana and avocado smallholdings to Lucmabamba, where many families roast their own beans and will happily show you the whole process. About 1.5 hours.

Day 4

Llactapata & the first sight of Machu Picchu

Lucmabamba → Aguas Calientes (about 2,040 m) 19 km ↑ 800 m

Navigate this day

Climb an original Inca path to the ruins of Llactapata for a distant, side-on view of Machu Picchu across the gorge, then descend steeply to the Hidroeléctrica station and follow the railway to Aguas Calientes.

Segments

Inca path to Llactapata 6 km ↑ 800 m 📍 Map

Lucmabamba → Llactapata ruins

Original Inca stone path through forest

A sustained climb on a genuine section of Inca road to the ridge-top ruins of Llactapata, which face Machu Picchu across the Urubamba gorge. On a clear morning you get your first look at the citadel from several kilometres away. About 3 hours.
Descent to Hidroeléctrica 5 km ↑ 0 m 📍 Map

Llactapata → Hidroeléctrica station

Steep forest descent

A steep, sweaty drop through forest to the Urubamba river and the hydroelectric station — the point where the trek meets the outside world again. About 2 hours.

About this place

The Urubamba River or Vilcamayo River is a river in Peru. Upstream it is called Vilcanota River. Within the La Convención Province, the name changes to Urubamba. A partially navigable headwater of the Amazon River, the Urubamba rises in the Andes to the southeast of Cusco. It originates on the slopes of Cunurana in the Puno Region, Melgar Province, near the La Raya pass. It flows north-north-west for 724 km (450 mi) before coalescing with the Tambo River to form the Ucayali River.
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Photo: Leon petrosyan · CC BY-SA 3.0
The railway walk 8 km ↑ 0 m 📍 Map

Hidroeléctrica → Aguas Calientes

Flat railway track

Walk the sleepers along the railway line with the river on one side and cliffs above, arriving at Aguas Calientes below Machu Picchu. There is a train for this stretch if legs have had enough. About 2.5 hours on foot.

About this place

Machupicchu or Machupicchu Pueblo, also known as Aguas Calientes, is a location in Peru situated in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province. It is the seat of Machupicchu District. Machupicchu lies at the Vilcanota River. It is the closest access point to the historical site of Machu Picchu which is 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away or about a 90-minute walk. There are many hotels and restaurants for tourists, as well as natural hot baths which gave the town its colloquial Spanish name, Aguas Calientes or hot water. Like Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes is not accessible by road, and the only way to reach Aguas Calientes is by train or by hiking.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

Day 5

Machu Picchu

Aguas Calientes → Machu Picchu (about 2,430 m) 4 km ↑ 400 m

Navigate this day

The reward. Either climb the stone stairway in the dark or take the first bus up, then tour the citadel you have spent four days walking towards.

Segments

The stairway to the citadel 3 km ↑ 400 m 📍 Map

Aguas Calientes → Machu Picchu entrance

Steep stone stairway

A relentless stone stairway climbing about 400 m through forest, usually started in the dark. Buses run the switchback road for those who would rather save their legs for the site. About 1.5 hours on foot.
The citadel 1 km ↑ 0 m 📍 Map

Machu Picchu entrance → Machu Picchu citadel

Stone paths and terraces

Walk the fixed circuit through the 15th-century Inca citadel, past the terraces, temples and the classic viewpoint. Entry is by timed ticket on a set route — book it before you leave home.

About this place

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at 2,430 meters (7,970 ft). It is situated in the Machupicchu District of Urubamba Province about 80 kilometers northwest of Cusco, above the Sacred Valley and along the Urubamba River, which forms a deep canyon with a subtropical mountain climate.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Draceane · CC BY-SA 4.0