Humantay Lake is spectacular; an iridescent blue lake surrounded by towering snow-capped mountains and glaciers. It’s the sort of view you might expect to walk days to reach, yet you can get there in just 1-2 hours. It’s steep and the altitude will make it feel even harder than if it were at sea level, yet the fact it’s one of Cusco’s most popular day trips proves you don’t have to be an avid hiker to get there.
However, it’s so popular that crowds can detract from the experience, which is why we’d recommend taking a taxi rather than a group tour. But regardless of which option you choose, this guide will cover everything you need to know about the hike, the journey to reach the trailhead and what to expect when you’re there.
Visiting Humantay Lake
We’re going to start by covering the hike details, followed by how to organise your visit and how to beat the crowds towards the end of this article. If you want to skip to that section, click here.
The Humantay Lake Hike
The stats
Distance: 3.4km each way (+150m if you climb up the moraine)
Elevation gain: 470m
Difficulty: Moderate - hard
Summary: Although the terrain on the walk is generally not too challenging (there are a couple of short rough sections, but nothing major), the majority of the track is uphill.
This is further compounded by the altitude, as the lake sits at an elevation of 4,200m (Cusco sits at 3,500m). You’re likely to feel breathless as you head uphill, but if you’re well acclimatised you shouldn’t experience altitude sickness (we have some tips on how to avoid it below).
Starting the trail
The walk begins on a service road, so it’s well graded and easy to walk on. It’s largely flat or has a gentle incline, but as you’re already at an elevation of 3,800m when you start the trail, it’s not uncommon to feel a touch breathless.
Although the beginning of the track itself is just a road and nothing to write home about, the views are beautiful from the off, with the huge Salkantay Mountain looming over the valley.
After heading over a couple of bridges and past a few restaurants (yes there are restaurants here!) you’ll take a left, heading up a narrower path, 1.1km into the trail.
After another 450m (1.55km from the trailhead) you’ll see a gate on the left leading into a large field, usually full of horses. It’s signposted as Humantay Lake.
Although the route looks private due to the locked gate, you can pass through the gap on the left and this is the route that all hikers and tour groups take.
From here it starts to get very steep.
Let the climb begin
It’s lucky the scenery along this next stretch is exquisite because you definitely need a distraction from the endless uphill slog.
You’re basically walking up a big grass hill before you join up with a gravel path after 450m. I definitely got a bit breathless along this stretch, but managed to keep up a slow steady plod.
We witnessed around five avalanches coming off the mountains as the snow warmed up in the sunshine. They weren’t anywhere near us, so it was perfectly safe and it increased the sense of awe as we climbed higher and higher up the steep slope.
At the 2km mark - when you join the gravel path - it gets a bit steeper, but the mountains start to loom over you and they’ll feel a touch closer.
Once you’ve been walking for just under 2.8km from the trailhead, you’ll see a small wooden hut.
I assume this is an emergency shelter or similar and once you’re here you will have covered almost 2/3 of the elevation needed to reach the lake.
Incidentally this is where the majority of horses stop when carrying people up to the lake (which we don’t recommend as they aren’t in great condition and it’s a hard slog for them).
Finishing the climb
The gravel path now gets narrower and there are occasional social trails, but they tend to rejoin the main track quickly and it would be hard to get lost!
The path continues to be steep and it’s a bit rockier and more uneven the rest of the way to the lake.
On the way up it’s not slippery at all, but a couple of very short sections on the descent required a touch more care - although nothing too bad and I am not a fan of slippery tracks!
The path will bear left around the mountain and you now have incredible views both ahead and behind you, as you look back on where you’ve come from.
There are a couple of bits where you’ll round the corner expecting to see the lake only to find it’s a false summit, but there isn’t too much further to go!
Just before you reach the lake, just under 3.5km into the walk, there’s a very short downhill section, followed by 100m or so of flat track taking you up to the lake shore (3.6km into the trail).
Humantay Lake
No matter how breathless you might have felt on the walk and how much you built the lake up in your mind, your first glimpse of it will not disappoint.
It really is a stunningly beautiful place and the longer you have to spend here and soak up the atmosphere, the better - another reason we don’t recommend the group tours, you really don’t get long at the lake at all!
If you’re lucky enough to visit on a clear day with low wind, there’s not a ripple on the shimmering blue water and the mountains and glaciers add an incredibly dramatic backdrop.
The only thing that’s a bit disappointing about the lake is that there are little ropes all along the edge of the water - I understand why they’re there (to stop you swimming), but it does detract a touch from the otherwise unspoilt natural scene.
However, that’s just a small thing in an otherwise magical spot.
Once you’ve explored the lakeshore you can climb the moraine on the left, which gives you a birds eye view of the lake.
It takes around 10 minutes to climb to the top of the moraine and after the first 75m or so the path becomes a bit of a scramble.
If you don’t fancy that, then even going halfway up on the path will give you truly fabulous views. You’ll see a giant rock, which is a wonderful place to sit and relax.
I stayed for a good hour before the tour groups arrived and asked me to move so they could take photos (which I don’t begrudge as it’s a wonderful photo spot!).
Once you’re ready to leave the lake, you return the way you came. It took us about 45 minutes to walk down, not going overly fast, but also not stopping for any breaks other than to take photos.
The descent is steep, but it was a lot better than I was expecting.
Apart from a couple of very minor loose gravel sections at the very beginning, it was smooth sailing. If you are worried about coming down a prolonged steep track you might want to bring a pair of hiking poles, but considering the gradient, it’s one of the easier descents we’ve done.
The best time to visit Humantay Lake
As mentioned, Humantay Lake is wildly popular. Many hundreds of people a day visit during peak season and almost all will arrive at the same time, on the group tours from Cusco. If you don’t mind crowds then you can come anytime, but if you do, we’d recommend taking a taxi.
Your options for beating the crowds would be to go very early in the morning, or later in the afternoon. Our initial plan had been to visit in the afternoon, but during our visit the road to Mollepata (on route to the lake) was closed for much of the day due to roadworks.
For this reason we picked early. Assuming you aren’t also hampered by the road, then we’d recommend aiming to arrive at the lake at around 12.30pm or a bit later. Even the later tour groups tend to leave the lake by that time and you’ll likely only encounter independent hikers, or those on the Salkantay Trail (which will be significantly fewer numbers than the tour groups).
If you go early, you need to go very early. We began our walk at 8am and reached the lake at 9.15am. There were two small groups ahead of us, so around about 10 people.
I think an hour earlier would have given us the lake to ourselves for a while. Luckily, we did get some time at the lakeshore alone as the groups headed up the moraine.
The huge crowds began arriving from about 10am.
The tricky thing if you’re visiting from Cusco is that the lake is a good 3.5 hour drive away. That makes starting really early a bit of a pain, so whether it’s worth it does depend on how much you want to escape the crowds!
The other thing to note if you’re coming in the afternoon is that at some point the lake will fall into shadow and the winds can (but don’t always) pick up in the afternoon.
The conditions to aim for at Humantay Lake
Depending on how long you have in the area, you want to try and aim for a clear day with low wind. This is because sunshine on the water brings out the blue, and low winds will mean you don’t get that ripple effect, which detracts from photos (and how long you can stay up at the lake as it’s fully exposed!).
Weather forecasts in the mountains are notoriously unpredictable, but we did find our usual go to website to be accurate for every walk we did in the area. We use this website and though we couldn’t get an exact reading on the lake, it was roughly the same weather as the village Soray (or Soraypampa) nearby.
You want to go to the details tab and check for the percentage of cloud cover and the wind speed. You want as little cloud cover in all categories as possible, so you get that lovely blue water.
If you can’t get a clear time period, then you want as little cloud cover in the low and middle categories as possible to make sure the mountain tops are visible (high cloud should sit above the mountain peaks).
Getting to Humantay Lake
Tour vs taxi
Of course when it comes to price you aren’t going to beat the low prices (they can be as little as $30 USD, or less if you get a cheap deal for a group tour) offered by the travel agents in Cusco.
However, the downside is that you will leave Cusco between 3am and 4am, and you will arrive with all the other tour groups. Despite the fact you leave when it’s still dark, the groups stop for breakfast, which slows you down too.
If you take a taxi you can pick your time and take snacks for the car, so you don’t need to stop for brekkie, which can help keep you ahead of the crowds. Or you can go in the afternoon (once the road is fixed and back to normal again).
We actually chose to spend the night in Mollepata so that we didn’t have to get up so early. Mollepata is around 2 hours 20 from Cusco and 1 hour 20 from the trailhead for the lake. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this though, as it’s harder to find a good driver than it is in Cusco.
You will likely get a worse car, which may or may not have seatbelts, and it’s harder to negotiate on price. We paid 200 soles (approx USD $55) which isn’t brilliant value considering that you can get a private taxis from Cusco (which is three times the distance) in a better car for less than 350 soles (USD $82).
If you really want the extra sleep then stay in Mollepata the night before, but it wasn’t the best experience for us. If you want to be even closer you could actually stay in the village of Soraypampa, right by the trailhead.
However, when we looked, the accommodation that was bookable online seemed overpriced and as this forms part of the Salkantay Trek (which sees many tour groups each day), we didn’t want to risk turning up and finding everything full. In the low season this would be unlikely though!
A driver we’ve used personally
We used a driver from Cusco for our Rainbow Mountain trip and would highly recommend him - and in case you’re wondering we paid full price and don’t make commission from recommending him : )
To book a private taxi with the same driver get in touch with Roxana from Vibrant Peru Tours. Her Whatsapp is: +51 984260053.
Arturo, our driver, was excellent. He was super friendly, a very safe driver and had a good car with working seatbelts.
He was so sweet, always opening the car door for us and telling us we could take as long as we like and still smiling when we took waaaaaay longer than your average person!
The standard price is 350 soles (approx USD $82) although we were told that our readers could ask for a little discount.
Driving yourself and the road conditions
Another alternative is hiring a car from Cusco (we paid less than USD $30 a day) and driving yourself. You may be wondering if we had a hire car why we didn’t drive ourselves. Well we’d read online the road was crazy, so we drove to Mollepata and took a taxi from there.
In reality the road is gravel and narrow in places, but it’s not crazy. Any car can do it, though you would be more comfortable in a car with some clearance (4WD definitely not necessary in the dry season). I would be wary in the rainy season, as the road might become challenging.
Note that it is a mountain road for the last 25km (it took our driver 1 hour and 20 minutes on this section, but not all of this is steep). It’s mainly single lane and at points close to an unfenced, steep drop. Drive slowly and cautiously and never against the flow of traffic, ie, if you’re planning to go in the afternoon, do not attempt to drive in at the times that the tour groups drive out. It’s just not worth the risk.
Altitude Sickness
The first and most important tip is to give yourself a minimum of 48 hours in Cusco before attempting Humantay Lake - and the more time the better.
A good rule of thumb is not to advance more than 500m in elevation each day, but it’s nigh on impossible to get that exactly right. Cusco is at 3,500m, and Humantay Lake is at 4,200m, so it’s close enough.
If you can, we recommend starting your trip by either visiting the ruins around the Sacred Valley (as they range between 2,600m and 3,500m) or Machu Picchu as that sits at 2,400m. Don’t start your trip to the Sacred Valley by heading straight to the lake.
You can also drink coca tea or chew coca leaves to help too and most hotels will offer you both free of charge.
Take the walk slow and steady so you don’t get too breathless. Remember some level of breathlessness and maybe even a slight headache is normal, but anything more than this could be a sign of altitude sickness and it’s best to proceed with caution and descend.
Facilities at Humantay Lake
At the trailhead you’ll find toilets that cost 2 soles (USD 55c) and some small, but well kitted out snack shops (which even included cereal bars for those who skipped breakfast) and local restaurants. Expect prices to be higher here due to the remote location.
You won’t find toilets at the lake, only at the trailhead.
Humantay Lake entry fee
The ticket for Humantay Lake costs 20 soles (approx USD $5.50) and must be bought in Mollepata before you go - you will reach a checkpoint on the gravel road and must show your ticket. The ticket office is open very early and can be found here on Google Maps.
The ticket actually includes a few other local sites, but we didn’t have time to check them out unfortunately.
Is swimming allowed at Humantay Lake?
Sadly swimming is not allowed at the lake. We heard a couple of different reasons why, the first was that it is sacred and the second is to keep it pristine. It could be either or both, but suffice to say that you won’t be able to take a dip here, tempting as it is.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support.
