APU SIERRA ICE N JUNGLE
Salkantay is probably one of the biggest rides in the world! Connecting high snow peaks to the jungle only kms away from Machupichu, join this lifetime adventure!
Salkantay is a lifetime adventure with more than 30kms of riding and dropping more than 3,000 vertical meters.
Starting at 4,700 meters high and ending in the jungle at 1,500 meters in natural hot pools next to the river is not a ride you can do everywhere. This ride takes you through different terrains and and views.
The best part is we will be only 30 min away from Machupichu one of the 7 world wonders.
OVERVIEW
AVAILABLE DATES:
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31 May 2025
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23 August 2025
Duration: 9 days, 8 nights, 7 total riding days
Starting point: Cusco city, Peru
Cost: USD $2150
SALKANTAY
Salkantay was used by the Incas as a reference point according to Sacred Geography they used to determine where to build their towns, in this case Machupichu.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
Expect technical rocky sections, single tracks, narrow parts, exposure, riding on remote highlands, endless ancient trails
Riding style | Enduro / All Mountain |
Skill level | 3 / 5 |
Fitness level | 3.5 / 5 |
Meters dropped | 16,344 |
Meters climbed | 3,000 |
KMs ridden | 221 |
DAY 1: ARRIVAL TO CUSCO
We will meet at the Velazco Astete airport to pick you up and transfer you to the Hotel in Urubamba, the capital of the Sacred Valley, where we will stay for the next nights. The Sacred Valley (2,700 m) is lower tan Cusco city (3,300) and has the highest concentration of trails. After settling in your hotel we will head for lunch to get a taste of the world famous Peruvian cousine. After lunch we will build bikes and go for some shuttled riding near URUBAMBA. R3 ↓ 850M 7.3 KMS ↑ 59m R1 ↓ 870M 6 KMS ↑ 10m
DAY 2: MARAS, MORAY & SECRET TRAIL
After breakfast we will shuttle to Maras, a place full of attractions for everyone and with such great views of the Sacred Valley down below. Our first ride will be the ancient trail that passes through the Inca Salt Terraces a place where salt has been extracted from the ground since the Inca period. Our second ride is a trail that passes by a plateau on top of the Moray Inca Agricultural Lab, a highly visited place. Of course we will get THE BEST view of Moray, a view the vast majority misses. This site is at the beginning of the second ride, the trail a couple minutes from the site has been totally restored by our Trail Maintenance Team on march 2018. The result is called “Fairway to Heaven” one of the funnest trails around. We will then have a gourmet picnic lunch at Huaypo lagoon, on a piece of Paradise owned by one of our guides. We are sure you will have the best Quinoa dish in a life time. To end the day, we will ride an Inca Trail in the Chinchero district. This trail has some Inca sites on the way and is located on a tight creek that will open up to a great view of the Valley. This trail was completely restored by the Holy Trails team at the end of 2017. Rediscover this trail that has been abandoned for a handful of decades or more. ↓ 767M 9.2 KMS ↑ 16m ↓ 993M 10.5 KMS ↑ 34m ↓ 1495 m 14 kms ↑ 285m
DAY 3: FROM OLLANTAYTAMBO TO LARES AND FROM LARES TO CALCA
Today we get really busy riding our bikes. We shuttle to Ollantaytambo and drive passing a weavers community to a high altitude pass and we ride towards the east in direction to Lares valley, leaving the snow peak mountain range behind us. We will pass through different types of terrains, have great views of snow peaks and maybe find a couple of weavers on the middle of the trail who will offer typical handcrafts they make and keep riding in direction to Lares hot spring a place where the jungle and the sierra meet. A box lunch is our lunch for today. We have a small drive from Lares town to the Lares pass, located south from the first ride today but in the same snow peak mountain range we left behind and we will drop back to Calca at the Sacred Valley in this very iconic ride. ↓ 1149M 19 KMS ↑ 304m ↓ 1071M 12.5 KMS ↑ 300m
DAY 4: HUCHUYQOSQO INCA TRAIL
Many mtbiking pics from Peru are on this trail. It starts at 4,300 meters over sea level on a very remote place next to Qoricocha Lake (gold lake in Quechua). It is impossible to imagine there is an ancient trail waiting for us in such a remote place until we are at the start point. The trail passes through stretch rock canyons which will make you wonder how advanced were the Incas in trail building and even doubt if they were mtbikers. It is a privilege to get to know a place like this with such a limited Access and so few people visiting it. After riding for about an hour and redefining flow, we will appear at the Huchuyqosqo Inca fortress which was strategically built by Wiracocha (gentlemen in Quechua), the 11th Inca. This fortress is above the Sacred Valley near Lamay and Calca and you can see both towns from above but the fortress can’t be seen from below. The ride continues after passing by the fortress and we will end at a community restaurant to enjoy a 7 course lunch served by the community members who keep using the colorful and traditional dress code “development” is disappearing. After Lunch we will do a short trail in Calca a couple of times. ↓ 1350M 14.5 KMS ↓ 400M 6 KMS
DAY 5: FREE DAY / OTHER ACTIVITIES
At this point in the trip we will be tired after riding X kms and dropping x meters. It is a great opportunity to go to Machupicchu or do other activities. Machupicchu is not included in the trip pricing but we can help you get all you need (Train tickets, bus tickets, entrance, etc.).
DAY 6: RIDING ON THE WAY TO SALKANTAY
The town we will sleep is 3 hours away and there is some riding on the way. Once we leave the Sacred Valley we will drive 2 hours and start riding and ancient 14.5 km dh really old trail. This trail passes right next to the Tarawasi archeological site and have our box lunch in Limatambo town. Right next to Limatambo sits the Condor viewpoint, we will get to the entrance by car. From there on we can continue walking a 6km trail to get to the viewpoint over the APURIMAC CANYON. After we are done trekking and bird watching we will start a ride very close to the parking area. The soil in this place is very different and fun, this area is a lot dryer and dustier than the places visited days before. When the riding is done we have a last 20 min drive to our hotel in Mollepata and our guides will cook dinner this night and go over the plan to Hike Salkantay the next morning. ↓ 1000M 14.5 KMS ↓ 1100M 9.5 KMS ↑ 300m
DAY 7: HIKE TO THE ICE AND BIKE TO THE JUNGLE
Departure from the hotel is early (5:00 AM). The last point the car will access is Soraypampa, 1:15 hour from our Hotel. Here we meet our porters or wranglers from the area who will take our bikes to the top. This 2:30 hour climb is really hard if you have to push the bike all the way up, bikers also have a really long day, this reasons make it ideal to work with the locals. The climb is 6.7 kms and the total climbed distance is 800M. People from all ages will be doing the same hike as a trekking activity that takes 3-4 days to complete by feet from Soraypampa to Santa Teresa. In the pass at 4,660 M we will get ready to ride after we make a tribute/offering to mother earth to thank and protect us during our ride. We will be offering coca leaves, tabacco, flowers we find on previous rides, and good thoughts. The ride starts with a lot of loose rocks right next to the Salkantay snow peak. We have an 18 km ride (2- 4 hours) that will drop 1600 meters to a cloud forest mountain town called Kolpa. From Kolpa we cross the river and do the Jungle Enduro that has a total of 4 different 15-minute climb, but is such a nice trail in the middle of the jungle that you will never forget. Expect 12 kms of trail and 10 km of dirt road on this second part and arriving at 1550 M to the most amazing Natural Hot Spring- Pools in the middle of the jungle. We will sleep at Santa Teresa, 10 minutes away from the Hot Springs. ↓ 3100M 54 KMS ↑ 2200M
Day 8: BACK TO THE VALLEY RIDING THE AVALANCHE TRAIL
On the middle our way back to the Sacred Valley sits the Abra Malaga pass (4,600 M) which hosts an amazing trail that drops to the Valley and is used for the Avalanche race. Our friends have a nice restaurant not too far away and will be waiting for us with a cylinder-type barbeque for us. After lunch we are heading to Cusco City to pass the last 2 nights and we are dropping from a small town close to Sacsayhuaman and ride all the way down to our hotel by bikes in the historic center of Cusco City. Half of the ride is a trail the other half is urban ↓ 1149M 13.6 KMS ↑ 27m ↓ 1000M 12.5 KMS ↑ 130m
Day 9: CUSCO CITY SURROUNDINGS
Our last day will be dedicated to the best selection of Trails at Cusco city surroundings. Expect great views of the city, first with Ocoruro Trail also known as Milky Way and continuing with Salkantaypueblo just above Sacsayhuaman Inca Fortress. This last ride will take us all the way to the Cusco MAIN PLAZA on our bikes, really close to our hotel to pack our bikes. Our guides will help packing bikes and we will go for dinner and celebrate the epic days we just had. ↓ 845M 9.5 KMS ↑ 76m ↓ 580M 10.2 KMS ↑ 109m
WHAT IS INCLUDED
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Experienced local mtb guides with a good fluid English
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3-star hotel or private accommodation for 8 nights
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Airport pickup and drop off (CUZ) Cusco Airport
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Transportation and shuttling
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All breakfasts after each night
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Snacks and hydration all riding days
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7 lunches
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Holy Trails Tee and stickers
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Admission tickets to places we will visit
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED
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Medical Insurance (MANDATORY)
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Travel Insurance
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Dinners
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Extras
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Bike rental
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Gear (knee pads, gloves, elbow pads and a Full face helmet are strongly recommended). Helmet IS MANDATORY.
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Air tickets
Inca Landmarks
Visit ancient Inca sites like Moray and the Salt Terraces of Maras while riding thrilling single tracks carved through time.
GALLERY
