The Choquequirao film: Apurímac canyon, Peru

Apurímac canyon, Peru · 3 days · 29 miles

Choquequirao Hiking Guide

3 days alone to the Inca ruins above Peru's Apurímac canyon.

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Look inside

Real pages from the guide. Tap one to see it big.

  • A day page page from the Choquequirao Hiking Guide
    A day page
  • A day map and elevation profile page from the Choquequirao Hiking Guide
    A day map and elevation profile
  • At a glance page from the Choquequirao Hiking Guide
    At a glance
  • The park: tickets, hours and rules page from the Choquequirao Hiking Guide
    The park: tickets, hours and rules

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The route

My GPS recording of 3 days on a relief map. The numbers are where each day starts; the red dot is the finish. The full GPX files and the day maps come with the guide.

Relief map of the Choquequirao route: 3 days drawn in red with numbered day starts, labelled Capuliyoc and Santa Rosa Alta.
Day 1Day 2Day 3Highest 10,050 ft (3,064 m)

Elevation, start to finish: highest 10,050 ft (3,064 m), lowest 4,850 ft (1,479 m).

Map data: Terrain: Mapzen Terrain Tiles (SRTM, GMTED) on AWS · Glaciers, rivers & lakes © OpenStreetMap contributors

At a glance

Days
3 days
Distance
29 miles
Climbing
About 12,460 ft (3,800 m) up
Season
The dry season, about May to September
Start and end
Capuliyoc

What's inside

  • All three days. Stats, the time I took, my notes, the trail, where to get off, a map with an elevation profile, and links to that day in my film.
  • My GPX files. My own recordings for each day and the whole trek, with waypoints for the trailhead, the campsites, the main plaza and the llama terraces, ready for AllTrails, Gaia GPS, Garmin or Organic Maps.
  • The park. 2026 tickets, opening hours and rules, and the closures of early 2026, 2025 and 2023, so you know what to check before you book.
  • Getting there. The bus from Cusco, the Cachora turnoff, the taxi to Capuliyoc and the hotel I stayed at, with what I paid.
  • Campsites, food and water. Every campsite on the route with my GPS heights, what I found to buy in 2019, and what I packed.
  • Other ways to do it. A slower four-day plan with a night at Marampata, and what's known in 2026 about going on to Machu Picchu.
  • Before you go and a trip sheet. One page of year-to-year checks and a printable one-page summary of the whole trek.

About this trip

In May 2019 I hiked alone from the Capuliyoc trailhead above Cachora, Peru, down into the Apurímac canyon, up to the Inca site of Choquequirao and back, about 29 miles in three days with a tent. It's the trip from my film Hiking Alone in Peru. This guide has my GPS files, maps and notes for every day, plus the park's 2026 tickets, hours, rules and closures, how I got there from Cusco, the campsites and food on the way, and a slower four-day plan.

Watch the film on YouTube (804K views).

Gear for this route

Paid links: I earn a commission if you buy through these links, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I carried everything myself on this trek, with no mule. Here's what I packed in 2019, what I'd take now, and what I filmed with.

What I carried in 2019

From my film's description and my talk about the trip that July. I left my computer and everything else at my hostel in Cusco.

What I'd take now

My current kit for a self-carried trek in the canyon: heat, sun, mosquitoes and long climbs.

Filming kit

What I filmed this trip with in 2019. My setup is smaller now (below). No drones at the site without written permission: see The park: tickets, hours and rules.

What I film with now

Since September 2026 I film with a smaller setup: the Pocket 4 and the Mic 3 on the trail, and the Mini 5 Pro in the air.

Everything I carry now: my gear page.

The Day 2, Santa Rosa Alta to Choquequirao and back to Playa Rosalina page from the Choquequirao Hiking Guide

Free sample + packing list

Try Day 2 free, plus my packing list

Santa Rosa Alta to Choquequirao and back to Playa Rosalina

The whole day page from the guide as a PDF, plus my camping packing list: the 42 things I carry, with a note on each. The PDF opens right away and both come by email. You'll also get my emails about new guides and trips, a few a year.

The details

Format
A 43-page PDF sized for a phone (A5, prints fine too) and a folder of GPX files, in one zip download.
Edition
2027 season edition, updated September 2026.
Delivery
Instant. After you pay you get a private download link. Bookmark it to download again on any device.
Payment
Secure checkout through Stripe, in your own currency. Tax is included in the price, except in the US and Canada, where any sales tax is added at checkout.
Refunds
Not useful? Email me within 30 days for a refund: kraig@kraigadams.com.
Questions
Email kraig@kraigadams.com.

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$19

Questions

How many days do you need for the Choquequirao trek?
I did it alone in 3 walking days, 29.3 miles out and back from Capuliyoc, with 2 nights in my tent. Most people take 4 or 5 days, and my Day 2, up to the ruins and back down to the river, was far too long.
When is the best time to hike to Choquequirao?
The dry season, about May to September. Avoid January to April, when landslides damage the trail: the park closed from February 1, 2026 until the Cachora route reopened on April 15, 2026. I walked May 25 to 27, 2019.
Do you need a guide or a permit for Choquequirao?
No guide was required on my trip, and I found no official rule requiring one in 2026. You need an entry ticket, S/60 general or S/30 for students in 2026, valid for one day. I paid at the booth at Capuliyoc, and in September 2026 it wasn't sold online, so bring cash in soles.
Where do you sleep on the Choquequirao trek?
At the campsites along the trail; you can't camp inside the archaeological site. I slept in my tent at Santa Rosa Alta and Playa Rosalina, and I'd recommend at least one night at Marampata.
How do you get to the start of the Choquequirao trek?
Take a bus from Cusco toward Abancay to the Cachora turnoff, then a taxi to Cachora, about 3 hours by road from Cusco. From Cachora it's about 11 km by taxi to the Capuliyoc trailhead. In 2019 I paid S/20 for the bus and about $10 for each taxi.

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Choquequirao Hiking GuideInstant PDF + GPX