The Humantay Lake hike, step by step
The walk is short on the map and long in the lungs. From the trailhead at Soraypampa a dirt track climbs to a glacier lake at about 4,200 m (13,780 ft), and most people need 1.5–2 hours for roughly 3 km (1.9 mi). This guide takes the trail section by section, then covers your time at the shore and how to avoid the late-morning crowd.
The trail in numbers
- Start. Soraypampa, about 3,900 m (12,800 ft), where the vans park. Chullos Travel Peru sets off a little lower, at Challacancha;
- Finish. The lakeshore at about 4,200 m, under the glaciers of Nevado Humantay, which rises to about 5,470 m (17,950 ft);
- Distance. Roughly 3 km each way on the classic route. Some listings describe a 4.3 km (2.7 mi) loop instead;
- Height gain. About 300–400 m (roughly 1,000–1,300 ft), depending on where your van stops;
- Time. About 1.5–2 hours up and about 1 hour down for most walkers.
Those numbers look gentle until you remember the starting height. Near 4,000 m every step uphill costs more breath than the same step at home, and Kantu Peru Tours goes as far as calling this hike harder than Rainbow Mountain. Altitude at Humantay Lake covers how to prepare your body for it.
Soraypampa and the first stretch
The trailhead has parking and toilets that charge a small fee, so use them before you start. Local families wait nearby with horses for hire. The community entrance, 20 soles (about $5–6) for foreigners, is collected in cash on the approach (Chullos says its guests buy the ticket in Mollepata). If your operator lends walking sticks, as Chullos and Kantu do, take one. Your guide then gathers the group and sets a steady pace from the first step.
The climb, from easy track to zigzags
The first half follows a wide track of packed dirt and loose stone that rises steadily up the valley, with snow peaks ahead on a clear morning. Horses use the same path, so step aside when one comes past. In the second half the slope steepens and the path breaks into a long series of zigzags up the final slope below the lake. This is where groups spread out. Short steps and frequent pauses work better than pushing hard, and faster walkers can simply be waved past. Kantu's guide walks at the back to stay with the slowest, and Inka Altitude guides such as David and Cesar win praise for letting everyone climb at their own speed.
Riders on horseback cover most of the ascent but dismount before the steepest stretch and walk the rest. Cusco Grand Adventure's horseback tour, from ~$86, builds the whole day around that. Guests walk about 20 minutes to meet the horses at Balcompata, then ride for roughly 40 minutes. Its catch is the return, a walk of about an hour on foot, and riders over 91 kg (200 lb) cannot join. Riding a horse up to Humantay Lake covers hiring one at the trailhead.
Poles provided, guide at the back
Kantu Peru Tours keeps groups to 16 and lends every walker a trekking pole. After a climb of roughly 1.5 hours you get about 40 minutes at the lake, from ~$27, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Time at the shore
At the top you reach a basin of glacier water held below a wall of ice and dark rock. The color comes from rock flour, fine silt ground by the glacier and carried down in the meltwater, and it glows brightest in sun; under cloud the lake turns a duller blue-green. Tours allow 30–60 minutes up here. Kantu lists about 40 minutes and Inka Altitude about 30, plus an optional short scramble up the ridge to the left or right for a view down over the whole basin. That extra climb is steep at this height, so take it only if you feel well.
Along the shore, visitors have stacked many small stone cairns called apachetas. Guides usually explain the Apus, the mountain spirits of Andean belief, and why Salkantay counts among the most revered of them around Cusco. MachuPicchu Journey's private day, from ~$99, includes a short offering to the Apus that you can join. The water is sacred to the local communities and fed by glacier melt, so swimming is not allowed.
Coming down
The descent takes about an hour and is where most slips happen. Reviewers describe loose stones on the zigzags and falls among people wearing running shoes, so wear hiking shoes with a good grip and lean on a stick if you have one. Chullos refuses open-toed shoes outright. A slow pace on the way down also spares your knees. Most groups follow the same route back to Soraypampa, then drive down to Mollepata for a late lunch. What to wear and bring to Humantay lists the shoes and layers that work.
Crowds, and how to dodge them
Since most vans leave Cusco at about the same hour, most groups reach the lake together in mid-morning, and the shore gets busy. It is a big lake, as one reviewer pointed out, so a short walk along the edge usually finds a quieter rock. Two tours dodge the rush through timing. exploor's Beat the Crowds day, from ~$199, has you at the trailhead around 7:40 am, before most vans pull in. BioAndean Expeditions' two-day trip, from ~$350, spends the night at Soraypampa, so its walkers are not tied to the day-trip schedule. One Inka Altitude reviewer who got up early found the shore nearly empty.
CrossoverPeru Tours' full-day hike, from ~$99, follows this same trail with the entrance plus a snack and water included, and all 93 of its reviews give five stars. The catch is that it is sold on Viator only, at roughly four times the price of a shared seat.
Weather on the trail
Clouds can hide Salkantay and dull the water on any day, and nobody can promise a clear view. Mornings in the dry months tend to be clearer, while afternoons bring cloud and, in the wet season, rain or snow on a muddy path. The best time to visit Humantay Lake goes month by month, and getting there from Cusco shows how the drive fits around the walk.