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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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