Yanacocha Lake Trek Full Day

Yanacocha Lake Information

A new and good option for hiking in the sacred valley of the Incas is the Yanacocha Lake Trek, for Machu picchu Cusco Tours is a beautiful natural attractions, stunning natural viewpoints and a beautiful lagoon on the slopes of the Andes mountain range.

Yanacocha Lake is located in Huayoccari town, district of Huayllabamba, Province of Urubamba, Department of Cusco. To get a better idea of location, Huacyoccari Town altitude is 2,900 meters / 9,514 feet and Yanacocha Lake altitude is 3,940 meters / 12,926 feet between the mountains of Peruvian Andes.

In Yanacocha Lake Trek you will find typical forests of the Andes like the forests of Queuña and Chachacomo, the importance of these Andean forests are regulates the climate, prevents soil erosion and stores large amounts of water, for this reason in Yanacocha Lake a unique and special micro climate.

To get to Yanacocha Lake, you have to ascend for road that is affirmed for approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes on average, on the route we will find a giant rock from where we will have a beautiful view of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

The origin of Yanacocha lake is tectonic and glacial because it is a geological hole where snow water is stored, Yanacocha is a Quechua word whose meaning is black Lake (yana = black / cocha = lake), the color of the lagoon is dark green due to the accumulation of algae, it is also surrounded by queuñas forest that give it a unique beauty.

Yanacocha Lake Overview

Tour Start: We will pick you up from your hotel in Cusco at 7:00 AM.
Duration of Yanacocha Trek: Full Day Hike.
Hiking distance from Huaran To Yanacocha Lake: Approximately 5 kilometers.
Maximum Height (Lake Yanacocha): 3 940 m.s.n.m. / 12 959 feet
Minimum Height (Pichingoto): 2 900 m.s.n.m. / 9 514 feet
Location: Northwest of the city of Cusco.
Distance from Cusco to Huaran: The distance is approximately 45 kilometers.
Visiting Season: All year, preferably from March to November.
Tour Difficulty Level: Easy.
End of Tour: We will return to Cusco between 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM.

Yanacocha Lake Trek Itinerary

The pick-up is from your hotel in Cusco or the Sacred Valley, we will board our tourist transport that it will take us to beginning of our walk in Huayoccari town. In the first section we will cross a eucalyptus forest, then we will continue through a Chachacomos forest and on our right hand side will be the river descends from the Yanacocha Lake.

On the way we will find typical houses of the Andes that are sporadically inhabited, after 40 minutes we will arrive at a deviation that it will take us to Yanacocha, in this part of the road we will be able to observe fauna like birds and flora like Chachacomo forest.

After 1 hour and 30 minutes we will reach a large rock, it is a beautiful view of the sacred valley, this is a natural viewpoint, here we will rest and have a brief explanation of the place.

We will continue our walk and we will reach a beautiful forest of Queuñas (Polilepis forest), this means that we are near the Yanacocha Lake, we will advance through beautiful Andean landscapes until we reach to Yanacocha Lake.

It is surrounded by a forest of Queuñas and it is located between large mountains, here we will have an explanation of the place and also our box lunch, we can visit Yanacocha Lake on our own.

After enjoying this beautiful lake, we will start the return, our transport will be waiting for us, and we will go to the city of Cusco.