Huaraz: the mountains begin with acclimatisation

The Cordillera Blanca, a few pointers

Huascarán National Park protects most of the Cordillera Blanca: 340,000 hectares, about 150 km from north to south, listed by UNESCO in 1985. It owes its name to Huascarán, the highest point in Peru. It has more than four hundred lakes, forests of queñual (Polylepis), the spectacular Puya raimondii, a giant bromeliad that flowers only once in its life, and, with luck, condors, vicuñas and spectacled bears.

A mountain range that is changing. The glaciers are retreating fast. The Pastoruri glacier has lost more than a fifth of its surface area in thirty years; according to a park official, it no longer accumulates ice in winter. The “climate change route” that leads there shows this retreat on the spot.

A mountain that has killed. On 31 May 1970, an earthquake off the coast broke away part of the north face of Huascarán. The avalanche of ice, rock and mud buried the town of Yungay and the village of Ranrahirca; the earthquake killed more than 66,000 people in the region. The site of the old Yungay is now a national cemetery, where no excavation takes place: it is visited in silence, on the road to Llanganuco. Huaraz, largely destroyed by the earthquake, has been rebuilt: little of its old architecture remains. To place this earthquake among those that have marked the country, see earthquakes and tsunamis in Peru.

Huaraz or Caraz: choosing your base

Distances: Huaraz–Caraz 69 km; Huaraz–Yungay 60 km; Yungay–Llanganuco lakes 29 km; Huaraz–Cebollapampa (start of Laguna 69) 89 km; Caraz–Cebollapampa 46 km; Caraz–Laguna Parón 28 km; Huaraz–Pitec (start of Laguna Churup) 18 km; Huaraz–Chavín de Huántar 104 km; Huaraz–Monterrey 7 km. The two towns are linked by the road along the Santa Valley, the Callejón de Huaylas.

The outings compared

The altitudes of Churup, Parón and Pastoruri are not all published by an official source we consulted; ask your provider for them. The park entry fee: S/ 30 for one day, S/ 60 for two to three days, S/ 150 for four to thirty days (general rate); you must use operators authorised by SERNANP.

Laguna 69: a real day in the mountains

Laguna 69 is the most famous outing in the Cordillera Blanca: a turquoise lake at the foot of Chacraraju, fed by a waterfall. Its name comes from an administrative numbering, as there was no traditional name when the park was created in 1975. PROMPERÚ presents access on foot from the Cebollapampa campsite and gives about three hours for the way up, along the stream and its waterfalls: that includes neither the way back nor the four to five hours of driving there and back from Huaraz.

In practice, it is a twelve-hour day, with a departure before dawn, a steady and then steeper climb towards the end, and the return along the same path. It should come after several days of acclimatisation and an intermediate outing. Turn back if headaches, breathlessness or nausea set in: the lake is not worth the risk of a high-altitude oedema.

A flexible progression

A suggestion for a week, with no medical guarantee: everyone reacts differently to altitude, and the CDC points out that physical fitness does not protect you.

1. Day 1. Arrival, rest, a slow walk around Huaraz and a visit to the Áncash Archaeological Museum, opposite the Plaza de Armas, with its park of monoliths from the Recuay culture.
2. Day 2. Wilcahuaín, a stone complex from the Wari period, a few kilometres from the town; the afternoon at the Monterrey baths.
3. Day 3. The Llanganuco lakes and a stop at the old Yungay.
4. Day 4. Chavín de Huántar, a cultural day.
5. Day 5. Laguna Churup, if the previous days have gone well.
6. Day 6. Laguna 69.
7. Day 7. A spare day: weather, tiredness, or Pastoruri if all is well.

Above 3,000 metres, the CDC recommends not increasing your sleeping altitude too quickly; here, you always sleep in Huaraz or Caraz and go up on day trips, which helps. See altitude.

A cultural day: Chavín de Huántar

On the other side of the Cordillera Blanca, at the entrance to the Conchucos Valley, Chavín de Huántar was, between about 1200 and 500 BCE, one of the great religious centres of the Andes, where people came to consult an oracle. UNESCO listed it in 1985.

What you see: the stone platforms and the sunken circular plaza, then, inside the Old Temple, a network of dark, narrow galleries where you walk bent over; at the crossing of two of them still stands the Lanzón, a monolith carved with a fanged deity, in its original place. The Chavín National Museum, in the village, holds the “tenon heads”, carved heads once set into the walls of the temple.

The journey crosses a high pass before going back down: it is a long day on the road, but the site is lower than most of the lakes, which makes it a good transition day.

Santa Cruz, Huayhuash and day outings

The Cordillera Huayhuash, more compact and wilder, has seven peaks over 6,000 metres, including Yerupajá, the second-highest summit in Peru; it has been protected since 2002 as a reserved zone. Its starting villages are Chiquián and Cajatambo. For these treks, build the whole stay around them: acclimatisation first, the trek next, the buffer last, and ask for the actual walking hours, the elevation gains, the nights, the equipment provided and the evacuation plan.

Caraz: another base in the Callejón de Huaylas

Caraz, 69 km north of Huaraz and noticeably lower, is a small, quiet town that partly escaped the destruction of 1970. It suits those who want to sleep lower, walk in the north of the valley and reach Laguna Parón, a large lake surrounded by peaks, along a 28 km track. The departures for Laguna 69 are closer from here than from Huaraz. On the other hand, there are fewer agencies and services: book your provider in advance. Sleeping closer to a starting point simplifies a day, as long as the accommodation and the guiding meet your expectations.

A properly licensed provider, route by route

The rules are not the same everywhere around Huaraz:

A publication from February 2026 confirms that this formalisation is continuing in the park. Before choosing, check the provider’s status on the park’s list of authorised operators, and ask what the price includes: transport, guide, park entry, meals, equipment.

Be wary of old tutorials claiming that you can simply set off on your own with an entry ticket. And check that your insurance covers high-altitude hiking and mountain rescue.