- StandardHuaraz → Cashapampa 2,900 m (drive 3 h) · Llamacorral 3,750 · Taullipampa 4,250 · Punta Unión 4,750 → Huaripampa 3,750 · Vaquería 3,750 → Portachuelo 4,767 (drive) → Huaraz = 4 days, ≈ 45 km, 3 nights in a tent
- DirectionAll five packages walk Cashapampa → Vaquería: longer, gentler climb to the pass; the reverse direction starts at 3,750 and climbs to 4,750 on day one
- Side tripLaguna Arhuaycocha and Alpamayo base camp on day two (2–3 h): Peru Bergsport, Turismo Exploring, IZI Peru; Peru Expeditions and Scheler Artizon do not name it
- ExtensionAlpamayo circuit (Cedros–Alpamayo): from Punta Unión north over seven passes to Hualcayán, 11–13 days – Peru Expeditions 13 from Lima (USD 1,750), Peru Bergsport 11 (1,400), First Class Huaraz 12 (1,999)
- Park ticketHuascarán National Park, cash at the post in Cashapampa: 60 soles for 2–3 days, 150 from 4 (table 2024); extra with all five packages
The valley: a gorge, two lakes, one pass
The Quebrada Santa Cruz is a glacial trough on the west side of the Cordillera Blanca: at the bottom near Cashapampa a narrow gorge with a river, from Llamacorral a broad pasture, then the two lakes Ichiccocha and Jatuncocha, and at the head of the valley below Taulliraju the climb to Punta Unión. The pass is a notch in the ridge between the Santa Cruz valley and the Huaripampa valley; from the top you look down on Laguna Taullicocha and east to Chacraraju, Pirámide and Huascarán. The mountains around are five- and six-thousanders – Taulliraju 5,830, Artesonraju 6,025 (the mountain of the Paramount logo), Alpamayo 5,947 – and Alpamayo is the reason for the side trip on day two: from Laguna Arhuaycocha you see its south-west face, voted the most beautiful in the world in 1966. On the east side of the pass the land is greener and more populated – queñua forests, fields, the hamlet of Huaripampa, the village of Vaquería on the road – and the drive back over the Portachuelo de Llanganuco is the second-highest point of the journey.
The stages
Eight sections for both treks from Huaraz: the acclimatisation day, then the four days of the Santa Cruz trek and the three sections of the Huayhuash circuit. Altitudes per Peru Expeditions, Scheler Artizon and IZI Peru, rounded; under each section it says which packages walk it that way.
No package includes acclimatisation. Two to three nights in Huaraz and a day walk to 4,600 m – Laguna 69, Laguna Churup or Wilcacocha – belong before every trek.
Huaraz sits at 3,050 m, eight bus hours from Lima. If you arrive on day one and set off on day two, you will have a headache on Punta Unión and a problem in the Huayhuash: both treks sleep at 3,750 to 4,200 m from the first night and climb above 4,750 on the second or third day. The usual preparation is two nights in town and a day trip: Laguna 69 below Chacraraju (bus to Cebollapampa 3,900, three hours up, two down), Laguna Churup above Pitec (4,450 m, steep, with a rope on a rock step) or the easier Wilcacocha in the Cordillera Negra with a view of the whole White Range. For the Huayhuash the operators recommend three days; Peru Expeditions puts Laguna Churup before its 14-day version, First Class Huaraz puts Laguna 69 into the Alpamayo circuit. All other packages begin on the trek morning at the hotel door.
Three hours' drive through the Callejón de Huaylas to Caraz and up to Cashapampa, then the entry into the Quebrada Santa Cruz: a gorge that opens into a valley.
All packages walk the trek from Cashapampa to Vaquería, that is anticlockwise: the climb to the pass is longer that way but gentler, and the Portachuelo at the end is a road. At the checkpoint in Cashapampa the park ticket is checked (foreigners 60 soles for two to three days, 150 from four – almost all packages exclude it). The first hours are a narrow gorge by the river, then the valley widens to the pasture of Llamacorral at 3,750 m, the first camp. The donkeys go ahead, the kitchen tent stands on arrival; if you book with Peru Expeditions or Peru Bergsport you share the camp with other groups.
The long day in the valley: two lakes, the side trip to the Alpamayo base camp at Laguna Arhuaycocha and the camp below Taulliraju.
In the morning along Laguna Ichiccocha and the long Jatuncocha, then the turn-off north: the side trip to Laguna Arhuaycocha below the Alpamayo south face (two to three hours there and back, view of the mountain Peru declared the most beautiful in the world) is in the itineraries of Peru Bergsport, Turismo Exploring and IZI Peru; Peru Expeditions and Scheler Artizon do not name it. The Taullipampa camp lies at 4,250 m on a meadow directly below Taulliraju (5,830 m), whose glacier can be heard at night. It is the coldest night of the trek – the sleeping bag should be rated to minus five; Scheler Artizon and Peru Bergsport provide it, the others rent it in Huaraz.
Three hours of switchbacks to Punta Unión, a notch in the ridge with a sign, glacier lakes on both sides and Taulliraju within reach – then the long descent into the Huaripampa valley.
The path to the pass is well built, but the air at 4,750 m is the reason for the acclimatisation beforehand. At the top a narrow gap in the rock, behind it the view over Laguna Taullicocha and the peaks of the Cordillera Blanca to Huascarán. The descent passes lakes through moraines and then down pasture to Cachinapampa or Huaripampa at about 3,750 m, where the third camp stands – Peru Expeditions and Peru Bergsport write Huaripampa, Scheler Artizon, Turismo Exploring and IZI Peru Cachinapampa; they are meadows in the same valley, an hour apart.
A short morning through queñua forest and villages to Vaquería, then the drive over the highest point of the journey, the Portachuelo at 4,767 m, down to the turquoise Llanganuco lakes.
The last walking day is the easiest: through the forest of red-barked queñua trees, past fields and the hamlet of Huaripampa to the road at Vaquería, where the vehicle waits. The drive back is a programme in itself – the track winds up to the Portachuelo de Llanganuco, with Huascarán, Huandoy and Chopicalqui on both sides, then drops to the two Llanganuco lakes, whose colour comes from glacier flour. Arrival in Huaraz in the late afternoon; the last dinner is expressly not included with Scheler Artizon. If you want to extend the circuit, head north from Punta Unión: the Alpamayo circuit by Peru Expeditions, Peru Bergsport and First Class Huaraz takes eleven to thirteen days over seven more passes to Hualcayán.
Five hours' drive via Chiquián to Llamac and the Matacancha camp, then two passes on two days to Laguna Carhuacocha, the camp with the view of Yerupajá, Siula Grande and Jirishanca.
The Huayhuash circuit begins where the road ends: Peru Expeditions, Andean Summit and IZI Peru drive to Matacancha (Cuartelhuain) at 4,200 m and start there; Peru Bergsport and First Class Huaraz walk from Llamac or Pocpa, which costs a day more. On the first walking day over the Cacanan pass (4,700 m) to Laguna Mitucocha below Jirishanca, on the second over the Carhuac pass (4,650) to Carhuacocha. In Llamac, Pocpa and Queropalca the communities collect their fees – 20 to 50 soles per village, around 270 to 280 for the whole circuit; Peru Expeditions has them in the price, Andean Raju, Andean Summit, First Class Huaraz and IZI Peru do not. The camps are meadows with tent, kitchen tent and, with Andean Raju, a toilet tent; there are no huts.
The core of the circuit: the three lakes below the Siula face, the Siula pass, the hot springs of Viconga and the highest pass – Cuyoc or, for the view, San Antonio at 5,020 m – before the descent to the village of Huayllapa.
From Carhuacocha the trail climbs past the three lakes Gangrajanca, Siula and Quesillococha, the viewpoint that every Huayhuash photo shows, to the Siula pass (4,830 m) and down to the Huayhuash camp. Day four over the Portachuelo de Huayhuash (4,750) to Laguna Viconga with the thermal pools, the only warm water of the circuit. Day five is the highest: Peru Expeditions, Andean Summit and Peru Bergsport go over the Cuyoc pass (5,000 m), Andean Raju names Sarapococha, that is San Antonio (5,020), with the view of Siula Grande and Sarapococha, the place from “Touching the Void” – steeper, looser, only in good weather. Camp in the Huanacpatay valley, on day six the descent to Huayllapa at 3,500 m, the only village on the route, with a shop and community fee. The five-day version by Peru Expeditions cuts off here: after the Siula pass over Trapecio (5,000) and Santa Rosa (5,070) straight to Huayllapa and Cajatambo.
Two passes back to the west side, then Laguna Jahuacocha below Yerupajá and Jirishanca – the finest camp of the circuit, with a rest day on the ten-day versions – and the exit to Llamac.
From Huayllapa 1,300 m up over the Tapush pass (4,800) to the Cashpapampa or Huatiac camp, the next day over the Yaucha pass (4,850) with the last big view of the main range down to Laguna Jahuacocha at 4,050 m. The ten-day versions by Peru Expeditions, Peru Bergsport and First Class Huaraz stay here two nights; with Peru Expeditions the free day is meant for Diablo Mudo (5,350 m, glacier summit with crampons, surcharge). On the last day over the Pampa Llamac (4,300) down to Llamac or Pocpa and five hours back to Huaraz. The mini versions by IZI Peru, First Class Huaraz and Peru Bergsport walk only this section: from Llamac over the Rondoy or Sambunya pass to Jahuacocha and back, three to four days, with the same view of Yerupajá and without the 5,000-metre passes.
The route in stages: altitudes and itineraries from the operator data, photos illustrate the places. The boxes show where the four compared offers differ at the same spot.
Itinerary: Peru Expeditions, four days
The Peru Expeditions itinerary as it stands on Viator, with rounded kilometres. Peru Bergsport, Turismo Exploring and IZI Peru use the same camps and add the Arhuaycocha side trip on day two; Scheler Artizon gives no itinerary, only the description with the same altitudes. The itineraries of the Huayhuash circuit are on the Huayhuash page.
Peru Expeditions · Santa Cruz 4 days, USD 380, guide in Spanish 4 days · 3 nights
Hotel pickup, drive via Caraz to Cashapampa, climb through the gorge to the first camp.
☾ ZeltAlong the lagoons Ichiccocha and Jatuncocha to the camp below Taulliraju.
☾ ZeltOver Punta Unión, descent past lakes into the Huaripampa valley.
☾ ZeltShort descent to Vaquería, drive back over the Portachuelo and the Llanganuco lakes.
Stops and walking times from the operator's Viator product data, edited for length. Maps and figures illustrate the route and are not for navigation.
The Alpamayo circuit: seven more passes to the north
If at Punta Unión you do not descend east but continue north in the Huaripampa valley, you are on the Alpamayo circuit (also Cedros–Alpamayo trek): over Pucaraju (4,650 m), Tupatupa (4,400), Yanacon (4,610), Caracara (4,830) and Vientunan to the north camp of Alpamayo at Jancarurish, with the mountain as a pyramid in front of the tent, and out over Osoruri (4,860) and Laguna Cullicocha to Hualcayán. Eleven to thirteen days, seven to eight passes, no village in between; the donkeys and the cook come along. Three operators have it on Viator: Peru Expeditions in thirteen days from Lima with hotels in Lima and Huaraz and an acclimatisation day at the Puya raimondii (USD 1,750, two reviews), Peru Bergsport in eleven days from two people (1,400, no reviews, guide and donkeys not in the list) and First Class Huaraz in twelve days from the east, with Laguna 69 on day two (1,999, one review, list names only meals). The circuit is considered harder than the Huayhuash – more passes in a row, longer stages, less walked – and the operators ask for experience with camping treks above 4,500 m. The inclusion lists are thin with all three; if you book, ask beforehand about donkeys, cook, emergency horse and the drive back from Hualcayán.
