Those who enjoy hiking in Arizona’s Grand Canyon will love Colca Canyon, which has the added beauty of volcanoes and untouched villages. Information on rafting, biking, climbing, trekking, and recommended agencies is available in the Arequipa section of this travel guide.

Below is specific information on trekking routes.

Trekking

A popular short trek drops 1,200 meters down into Colca Canyon from the village of Cabanaconde to Sangalle, a riverside oasis where three campgrounds with pools have sprung up since 2000. Their names—Paradise, Oasis, and Edén—play off the same theme and are easy to confuse. Sangalle, which feels subtropical even when Chivay is chilly, is a great place to read books and lounge by the pool. But don’t expect any cross-cultural encounters.

You can camp for a few dollars a night or rent cane huts with rickety beds, and they also sell beer and food. As they are close to one another, check out each campsite before you choose. You will need to pack out all solid waste, including organic waste, cans, glass, and plastic—a look at the riverbanks will show the area’s trash management problems. Hiking down takes two or three hours, but returning to Cabanaconde, which most people do the second day, can take twice as long.

A longer, more interesting option is to cross a footbridge at Sangalle and hike up the other side of the Colca Canyon to the charming village of Tapay. Another path leads from here back to a good camping spot farther upstream on the Río Colca. From here the path winds uphill, approximately 1,200 meters, to the Cruz del Cóndor. This trip could be done in two or three days, though getting to the Cruz del Cóndor by 8 a.m. would mean breaking camp by 4 a.m.

Other interesting treks involve hiking along the canyon rim between various towns. Despite what your maps say, there are ancient Collagua paths connecting most villages together. Because most of the tourists travel along the Cruz del Cóndor side, the best trekking is on the north side of the canyon—though it is easy to cross back and forth at the bridges near Maca and Yanque. Colca is a safe and easy place to improvise a route, as long as you have a few liters of water, a bit of Spanish, and a wide-brimmed hat.

A truly adventurous four- or five-day route leads from Cabanaconde to the Valley of the Volcanoes and retraces the steps of Robert Shippee and George Johnson, who flew over and mapped the entire area in 1929. They were so intrigued by the Valley of the Volcanoes that they forged out from Cabanaconde to find it. Their route drops west (downstream) into the Colca Canyon and then back up the other side to the village of Choco, at 2,473 meters. After camping here, hike up and over a 4,500-meter pass and then on to the village of Chacas, 3,100 meters. A road, with sparse traffic, leads from here to Andagua, at the head of the Valley of the Volcanoes, one day’s hike away.