Huchuy Qosqo Trails
Huchuy Qosqo is my favorite Inca mini city.
It’s free, there are four trails to choose from and there’s so few people!
Huchuy Qosqo was built for the Inca Wiracocha towards the end of his reign. It has a clear ceremonial center and the fine architecture that you would expect at the residence of the Inca.
There are no signs or plaques to explain anything, so I recommend going with a guide or reading up on the place before you go. It’s an easy place to go on your own, with several trails to choose from. This time, I took the trail from Tauca, on the far side of Lake Piuray from Chinchero. It is a well-defined trail that would have been easy to find even if I didn’t have a map downloaded on my phone. Trail information is below!
Inca stonework
No matter how many Inca buildings I see, I am always mesmerized by the details in their stonework. I love the way light plays on the rounded finish.
There are so many reasons why I love hiking in the rainy season.
It’s green, warmer than the dry season and there are so few tourists. I didn’t actually get rained on that day, though I could see rain falling on the far side of the Sacred Valley. I didn’t see a single person after I left Tauca, until I got to Huchuy Qosqo. I spent over an hour at the site and saw one tourist from Brazil hiking alone and a pair from Italy. None of them were with guides. There was one guy working at the site, clearing brush with a weed wacker.
How to get there?
The photos above show the trail after leaving Lake Piuray and Tauca. You start up a valley then the trail turns right to get up and out of the valley. The next section of trail goes across a mesa area with the remnants of glacial ponds. Then it goes down into another small valley till you get to a sign that says Huchuy Qosqo, where you cross a bridge and you’re there! The Tauca trail is about 8 miles/ 13km and takes around 4 hours.
The trail from Tauca
I was impressed how easy the trail was to follow. Even if my phone had died or I didn’t have a map downloaded, I don’t think I could possibly have gotten lost.
Do not go back the way you came!
Whether you came from Tauca, Tambomachay, Chinchero or Sihua/Patabamba, you should not go back that way. Those trails are mostly downhill to Huchuy Qosqo. After you visit the site, walk down to Lamay, which is in the Sacred Valley near Calca.
Down to the Sacred Valley
It’s a steep trail down to Lamay, which is why most people start near Chinchero, uphill from Huchuy Qosqo. You can hike up from Lamay, which is only 2.6 miles (4.2km), but be prepared for a steep uphill slog.
Huchuy Qosqo is also surrounded by beautiful hills full of wildlife.
I saw parrots and lots of birds I didn’t identify, but my favorites are always the hummingbirds. The photos above are a Sparkling Violetear hummingbird, the most common hummingbird I see around Cusco. When I was there in 2020, I saw a deer and several caracara falcons.
More info is on my app!
If you haven’t yet, download my travel guide Peru’s Best. It’s available in the App Store and Google Play. It has more info for this and many other hikes in Peru!
This wasn’t my first time at Huchuy Qosqo.
The photos above are of the Sihua trail and arriving at the site. Read my 2020 blog here.
The trail from Sihua
From the town of Ccorao, on the road from Cusco to Pisac, ask for taxis to Patabamba. You can hike from Patabamba, or you can try to get transportation all the way to Sihua. The red line is more or less what I hiked in 2020.
The trail from Tambomachay
This is the longest but has the advantage of being accessible from the Cusco city busses Huerto or Cristo Blanco. This is a very rough estimation of the trail. Check out Cusco Hike Club to get a more detailed map.
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