Rainbow Mountain - West Side Access | Wild Camping

December 8th, 2022 by @alyvanblake

no sign to turn up this road right before an orange bridge but Google directions are correct. this pin is the end of the road. the first 4km or so are pretty rough. we started up at noon from the highway and saw about 10 vehicles coming down. at one of the first little towns a woman asked for 10s for road maintenance. she gave an official looking receipt and we did actually see a crew fixing holes. still typical crappy puna road though. it had been raining earlier in the morning and this road was scary slippery with clay and mud. 20s per person to enter. want a picture with a hand sculpture with the 3rd tallest Peruvian mountain? 5s each. want to visit the red valley? 10s each...(and you only get to walk in like 200m to take the picture!) this place is a disappointing joke. you should know before you come here that all of the pictures you see in Cusco are super edited to make them look more colorful then they are. do yourself a favor and check out Pallay Punchu for free! it's an easier climb and much more pretty.

October 17th, 2022 by BTL

As described, though we would recommend the following: drive up around noon to (hopefully) miss the dozens of tour buses going down the narrow track. Have lunch at the parking spot up top, waiting for all the tourist buses to leave. Start the hike around 2pm, so you’ll have time to do both the rainbow mountain and the red valley, without having to drive down in the dark. It’s definitely worth it if you have the place all to yourself.

September 14th, 2022 by A very long Honeymoon

Did the same as the previous poster - late afternoon is really perfect, we were completely alone. We left at 3.30 which was a bit too late as it got dark on our way back from the red valley. Maybe leave 2:30 for the hike would be perfect. Don't miss red valley.

June 23rd, 2022 by outintonowhere

Now s/20. No mirador fees after 4:30pm for me.

The rainbow mountain entrances are a bit confusing. I believe there are two main ones now. This and the other side. Then there is also a Red Valley which is what I thought this was but it isn’t. Access for that is via Pachachani.

Frankly, rainbow mountain is a huge tourist trap. However, if you go against the flow you can have the place to yourself and it is worth it. I drove up this road starting at 1pm. It was a nightmare as 50-100 Kombi will be going in the opposite direction as you. However, sunset is the perfect timing for this access point and I had incredible views and light by starting my hike at 3pm. I am a fast walker. Perhaps best for most is take this road around 11am (hopefully avoiding Kombi madness).

I drove down in the dark because it was better for me than either 1) waking up in a parking lot mobbed with tourists that starts as early as 4-5am and 2) driving against the current of drivers. Not bad in the dark and the road isn’t all that amazing of a drive anyhow. Ate a bite in town and drove paved roads to Laguna Pomacanchi. Only about half hour or less from town and infinity superior walking up on a quiet lakefront than a noisy, crowded, dirty parking lot.

P.S. I think the Red Valley is actually more impressive than Rainbow Mountain. You can make a loop but the shortcut back down is a bit sketch so good shoes and confidence in your abilities are advised. Otherwise go back the main route.

October 12th, 2019 by Monkeys on the Road

We walked to rainbow mountain from Upis over 4 days and came out here - wow the parking lot is jam packed full of tour buses. We were here about 8-9.30 and it's crazy busy with buses arriving nonstop so I would come earlier, or much later. We were on top of rainbow mountain around 7am and not many people.

September 26th, 2019 by Einmalrundum

Because this is the „new“ access to rainbow mountain most of the tours from Cusco come up here and it’s a 3km hike up to the viewpoint (detour to see red valley not included).
We drove up from the other side. Turn off in Checacupe, then paved until Pitumarca and from there it’s 30km gravel road (in good condition when we drove it). They prolonged the road further up and you have to walk only 2km from the car park :-)

April 9th, 2019 by antoine.finot5

Very narrow road until the parking.
You have to take left before the bridge if you arrive from Cusco.
Around 1h30 of dirty road with a Mitshubishi van.
You have to pay 10 Sol / person a little bit before the parking.
And after the parking, around 1h to the mirador but be careful with the altitude!!
Worth it !!!

January 3rd, 2019 by lucasetmargot

Parking lot of the new way to get to the Rainbow mountain.
We spent the night there, to go to the rainbow mountain before the first collectivo ( 7 am ). It was really cold at night, had some snow and hail.
You should definitely go to the Valle Roja, after the rainbow mountain. For us, it was nicer, and we were lonely to enjoy the view. The parking lot is really crowded from 8 am to 3 pm.
We were with friends who camped in the parking lot.
It's a 2 hours drive from the road, on dirt road, but it was a ok with our VW T2.
It's 10 soles pp for the rainbow, and 5 soles pp for the Valle Roja.

September 30th, 2018 by foodailleurs

A big flat parking at the New start of rainbow hike ,new drive too, since july 2018 .To come here ,you have to turn left before the bridge of Cusipata from Cusco.
It's a very narrow and rough drive ,no asphalt .But It was ok with our canadian 24 feet motorhome , with propulsion drive ( during dry weather ). We drive around 2 hour to arrive on the parking at the start of a small hike to rainbow mountain. If it's raining this drive is closed . Ask if there is snowing before take the road. Important, the drive is very narrow at the beginning in the small village. It's better to come here after 3h30pm because , the tourist bus start to go down after 1pm . We was alone here during the night. You have to take care with the meteo ,it's an high mountain 4500 meters . Toilets are available, we make a pit fire with stone but take your wood before.
Please take your waste with you when you go down , they haven't any organisation with the dustbins , and you find waste everywhere with the wind and dogs . It's a horrible to see that in this crazy wonderfull place.
We start at 10 am the hike ,because it's very close , just 1h15 with children to go at red valley , and continue later to the rainbow after the tourist jam ;)
We was alone at red valley and we prefered at the rainbow montain .

Nouveau départ de rando pour la Rainbow mountain et la vallée rouge. En venant de Cusco , tourné à gauche avant le pont en arrivant au village de Cusipata ( voir plan photo). La piste est en terre et très étroite , surtout au début dans les premiers villages . Nous avons mis environ deux heures pour monter une trentaine de kms avec notre camping car canadien de 7 mètres ( propulsion arrières et roues jumelées). N'importe quel type de véhicules grimpent ici , même des bus . Là haut , à 4500 mètres d'altitude , un grand parking avec «toilette» . Vues grandioses et seul au monde à partir de 15 heures. C'est plus pratique de prendre cette piste vers 15 heures pour éviter les croisements sur la piste avec tous les bus de touristes qui rentrent sur Cusco. De même , pas la peine de se presser le matin , la majorité des tours organisés redescendent vers avant 13h , après il n'y a plus personne . Nous sommes partis vers 10h et avons pris ,en cours de chemin ,une bifurcation sur la droite en direction de la vallée rouge (10 soles/adulte) ,environ 1h15 avec enfants. Ensuite nous sommes remontés vers la rainbow mountain ,30 minutes supplémentaires. Peu de touristes vont à la vallée rouge en encore moins commence par ici. Vu le peu d'organisation des déchets ici ( voir rien du tout !) , et le merdier que font les chiens et le vent durant la nuit . C'est cool de ramener vos déchets avec vous . Les locaux ne font rien pour garder leurs montagnes en bon états , et de voir un magnifique paysage se détériorer ainsi est désolant ;(