Bikepacking the Ausangate Circuit in Peru was the best and hardest bikepacking trip I’ve done to date. It’s an epic route with incredible scenery and varied terrain. Read about my trip and learn how you can plan your Ausangate adventure!
I’ve done a lot of bikepacking trips, but the Ausangate Circuit in Peru was by far the hardest and most epic bikepacking adventure I’ve done to date. It was incredible! (and incredibly hard…) But I LOVED it. The idea for this 5d/4n trip came about after a friend – Malcolm – and I accepted spots to work on the South American Epic. We knew we wanted to do a pre-trip adventure prior to joining the tour in Cusco, Peru, and the Ausangate Circuit looked perfect. We did our planning, but I think we both can agree now that it was more beautiful, more challenging, and more epic than we had expected.
The whole 40+ mile circuit is stunning with non-stop views of snow-capped jagged peaks, turquoise blue alpine lakes, crackling glaciers, and wide-open llanos (plains) dotted with llamas and alpacas. It’s remote Andean wilderness at its most magnificent.
But, as we learned, bikepacking the Ausangate Circuit is also very challenging. The route is mainly traveled by hikers and horses (if you’re a mountain biker, you know what that means…) and the whole circuit is above 15,000 ft. Breathing and sleeping were difficult, to say the least.
The biking was also an uphill battle – literally! All of the climbs were hike-a-bikes, either because of the altitude (pedaling at 15k feet is no joke y’all), the steepness of the climbs (my arms got more of a workout than I’d expected), or the rocky terrain (I like navigating rock gardens, but some stretches on the circuit are impossible to ride). I’d say we rode about 50% of the whole route and pushed our bikes for the other 50%. Hard? Yes. But worth it? 100%.
Bikepacking the Ausangate Circuit is an incredible adventure, but you definitely need to do some planning and know what to expect before attempting it. The route is incredibly remote, at high altitude, and physically very demanding. If it’s a trip you’re considering, this guide will give you all the info you need to help plan your trip.
A huge thanks to Haku Expeditions for helping us make our trip possible. They organized our bike rentals and provided transport to and from the start of our trip from Cusco. If you’re planning a DIY trip, reach out to them for help with logistics. Or, if you want to do a supported trip, they offer a 5-day Ausangate Mountain Bike Trip that looks amazing and includes a soak in hot springs!
Ausangate at a glance
Ausangate is a sacred mountain to the Quechua people. It’s part of the Vilcanota mountain range, which is located a few hours southeast of Cusco, Peru. The peak rises to 20,945 feet (6,384 meters), making it the highest mountain in the Cusco region. Most people hike the Ausangate Circuit, but we biked around it (definitely not as popular – we got some strange looks and only saw one other bikepacker- our new Aussie friend!). The circuit doesn’t take you to the summit of Ausangate, but you will be at about 15,000 – 16,000 feet the entire time.
This area is more remote and less crowded than other high-altitude treks in Peru like the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu or even the Huayhuash Trail (which is also supposed to be incredible, but even less suitable for bikes). I loved the remoteness and solitude we had on our trip, but not everyone will feel comfortable being so far away from civilization and services.
Should you Hike or bike the Ausangate Circuit?
Obviously, we chose to bikepack around Ausangate, but you can also make it a backpacking trip. We saw several groups of backpackers along the way and, truthfully, we ended up hike-a-biking about 50% of our route anyway. Personally, I’m not much of a backpacker – I’ll always choose biking over hiking – but if you’re not an experienced rider, backpacking the Ausangante Circuit may be a better fit.
The Route
The route around Ausangante is pretty straightforward, HOWEVER, it can be tricky to navigate because there are a lot of side trails going every which way and it’s easy to get stuck ‘low’ when you should have stayed ‘high’ and vice versa. A GPS navigation device (not your phone) is essential. I used my Garmin Edge 830, as I do for all my bikepacking trips, and it has never led me astray.
How technical & challenging is it?
It’s hard. Harder than I thought it would be. The altitude makes the hike-a-bikes kinda brutal (but worth it) and there are several climbs that are steep, loose, and rocky. You may be thinking “oh, it’s only 40 miles or so” but it is a hard 40 miles. I highly recommend aiming to do only 8-12 miles a day. Don’t underestimate the Ausangate Circuit!
As far as technicality, it’s a mixed bag. There are some incredible descents that are fast and flowy and there are some soul-sucking climbs up steep and rocky switchbacks. There are also pot-holed traverses through boggy terrain and smooth pedaling across open llano. There’s truly a bit of everything on this route, which makes it even more interesting. But as I mentioned above, we ended up riding only about half of of the circuit even though we both are very experienced riders.
Less experienced mountain bikers will find some of the descents steep, loose, and challenging. Underscore loose! If you want to have fun on this trip, I recommend having at least intermediate mountain biking skills with some experience on technical terrain.
Our Route Recap
Alright, let’s talk route options because there are a few different ways to do the Ausangate Circuit.
Here is what we did:
- We got a ride with Haku Expeditions from Cusco to Chillca (three hours drive). A lot of bikepackers will start in the town of Pitumarca below Chilcca, but we were tight on time, so we opted to drive up to Chillca and then finish our trip in Pitumarca (which is mostly downhill!)
- For navigating the Ausangante Circuit, we mostly followed this route by Sarah Swallow. There are a few things I’d change, though, which I’ll dive into below.
- We also added on Rainbow Mountain. It’s worth going to Rainbow Mountain, but I wouldn’t do this route again. There’s a really steep section through a canyon that is a very hard hike-a-bike. See below for a different option for getting to Rainbow Mountain (which will still be hard, but not quite as hard :).
- From Rainbow Mountain, we descended the main road all the way back to Pitumarca where we stayed the night and then returned to Cusco the following day via a Haku Expeditions transfer.
Tip: The gravel road from Pitumarca to Chillca is a steady uphill with the potential for a lot of tourist bus traffic heading to Rainbow Mountain. It’s best to do it later in the day if you plan on riding it.
Here’s a breakdown of our 5-day 4-night trip:
Day 1: We left Cusco around 10am and arrived in Chillca around 1:30pm with a quick stop in Pitumarca for some grab-and-go food. After organizing our gear and loading our bikes, we started pedaling out of Chillca around 2:30pm. The first few miles are on doubletrack road, which is a good warm-up, but doesn’t really prepare you for what’s to come over the next 32 miles! (hint hint…) We made it about 7.5 miles to a nice open field where we set up camp by some boulders and watched the sun set over the snow-capped peak of Qullpa Anata.
>> Day 1 stats: 7.58 miles / 981 ft climbing / 1 hr 30 minutes moving time / max elevation 15,162 feet
Tip: Pitumarca is the last town with reliable supplies for the rest of the trip.
Day 2: Neither of us really slept well (probably because of the altitude), but we slowly packed up camp, made breakfast, and got back on our bikes. Today we tackled the biggest climb of the route and it was hard! But also stunningly beautiful. According to my GPS, we only made it 7.5 miles and had a moving time of 2 hours, but somehow it took us most of the day! Probably because we took lots of breaks and also because the going was slowwww. Expect to push your bike up 99% of the climb. But once you make it to the top of the pass, the descent down the other side is epic. Definitely a highlight of the trip! We camped at a really nice spot at the bottom of the descent next to an alpine lake (I highly recommend jumping in!).
>> Day 2 stats: 7.66 miles / 1,683 ft climbing / 2 hours moving time (it felt way longer) / max elevation 16,544 feet
Day 3: I slept terribly, so we had a slow morning and didn’t end up leaving camp until around 10:30am (a mistake in hindsight). I thought it was going to be an easier day, but it wasn’t! We had another hike-a-bike climb that was steeper and more technical than yesterday and navigating the route was also a bit trickier. But the views continued to be spectacular. The descent from the top of the climb was also my favorite of the whole trip – fast and flowy with just the right amount of tech at the end. For camping, we wanted to make it to the free camping huts at lake Pucacohca. Daylight was waning, but we agreed that we should push ahead, even though there was one last tough hike-a-bike section. We arrived at the huts just as the sun was setting over the lake, but it was so nice to get out of the wind and set up our tents inside the little cabanas (which kept us nice and warm!)
>> Day 3 stats: 12 miles / 2,444 feet climbing / 3 hrs 30 mins moving time / max elevation 15,711 feet
Day 4: We woke up knowing that we had another big climb ahead of us – the final one of the Ausangate Circuit. This last climb was the easiest of the three, but we still hike-a-biked most of it because of the altitude. But the descent down the other side was super fun and probably the most steep and technical out of all the descents (I loved it :). Earlier, we had also decided to extend our route one more day and head up to Rainbow Mountain to see its famous multicolored layers of mineral deposits. We followed Sarah Swallow’s Rainbow Mountain add-on, but this ended up being a really tough hike-a-bike through a canyon (see my notes below on what I’d do differently). Initially, we wanted to do most of the climbing up to Rainbow Mountain today, but it ended up being too much, so we camped at an established campsite with little huts and had dinner and played cards with our new Australian bikepacking friend. Definitely the right decision!
>> Day 4 stats: 9.3 miles / 2,139 feet climbing / 2 hrs 50 mins moving time / max elevation 16,052 feet
Day 5: I know I’ve said that all the climbs on this trip were challenging, but this final one up to Rainbow Mountain was the hardest for me. Maybe it was because I hadn’t been sleeping well and was exhausted, but this climb kicked my butt. The worst part, too, was that the descent down the other side was a hike-a-bike, too! It was too steep and loose and switchbacked to ride with a loaded bikepacking bike. But… I will say that Rainbow Mountain is worth the suffering to get there – the multicolored striations are really unique aaannndd you can get a picture with a llama wearing sunglasses. Right!? From Rainbow Mountain, we bombed down the road (which was beautiful) and rejoined the road heading to Pitumarca, which was (thankfully) also mostly downhill.
>> Day 5 stats: 29 miles / 2,297 feet climbing / 3 hrs 45 mins moving time / max elevation 16,579 feet
Tip: We stayed at a great little guesthouse in Pitumarca called Hospedaje Malvin.
What I’d do differently
While we did a lot of research and planning for our Ausangate trip, and overall it went really smoothly, there are a few things I’d do differently.
- I’d drop down onto the road leading into Upis at around mile 20 on day 3. The route we followed stayed high on the foothills, but navigation was challenging since there wasn’t really a trail to follow and the riding was pretty stop-and-go. If you can get down to the road, you can have a nice pedal into Upis where there is a bridge that crosses the river (instead of a sketchy dam crossing) and there’s a small store with basic resupplies before the big hike-a-bike.
- I wouldn’t descend all the way down to the start of the Rainbow Mountain climb. Instead, our Aussie bikepacker friend found a way to stay on a higher traverse, which cut off the nasty canyon hike-a-bike. It won’t make the second half of the climb up to Rainbow Mountain easier, but at least it’ll make the first part a bit less soul-sucking! (See route below)
- If I had an extra day, I would return to Pitumarca via Valle Rojo from Rainbow Mountain. It’s supposed to be really beautiful and I was kind of bummed that we didn’t get to see it. (See route below)
So, with all that in mind, here are three routes I would use if I were to bikepack the Ausangate Circuit again:
- Ausangate + Valle Rojo: This would be the main route to follow. (Note that I have not ridden this complete route – it’s a compilation of what I did ride and what I would do next time). It has the Upis detour and higher traverse to Rainbow Mountain. If you don’t want to do Valle Rojo, you can either do the ‘quick exit’ below or simply descend down to Chillca and skip Rainbow Mountain altogether. If you do Valle Rojo, I would plan for 6 days, 5 nights.
- Rainbow Mountain quick exit: If you don’t have time to do Valle Rojo, this is the fastest way down Rainbow Mountain and back to Pitumarca.
- Pitumarca to Chillca: If you have the time or are relying on transportation, this is the route from Pitumarca to Chillca. Budget an extra day if you start in Pitumarca.
Planning Your Ausangate Adventure
When to go: the best time to do the Ausangate Circuit is in the dry season – May through October. Keep in mind that this is the southern hemisphere, though, so May-August is winter and can be really chilly. We did our trip in early September and had great weather, but the nights were still pretty cold (below freezing). I wouldn’t recommend doing your trip in the rainy season, which is November through April – it would be pretty miserable to be wet and soggy the whole time! This page has a good summary of what to expect during each month around Ausangate.
Number of days: We did a 5 day/4 night trip and it was perfect for starting in Chillca, doing the circuit, and adding on Rainbow Mountain, then ending in Pitumarca. If you choose to do Valle Rojo, you might want to budget 6 days/5 nights and if you start in Pitumarca I recommend adding another day for that.
Getting there: A lot of bikepackers start in Pitumarca, which is easier to get to from Cusco than Chillca, where we started. There are busses from Cusco to Pitumarca or your can hire private transporation. We booked a ride to Chillca from Cusco and from Pitumarca back to Cusco with Haku Expeditions. They’re super professional, have a bike rack on top of the car, and can help you finalize your trip plans.
Peajes: We’d heard about the peajes before starting our trip, but we didn’t realize how many there would be and we were pretty frustrated with how much we paid by the end of our trip. Peajes are basically ‘tolls’ that you need to pay to pass through parts of the Ausangate Circuit. There is no rhyme or reason for when or where you’ll encounter a local asking for money, but be prepared to pay at least 4-5 times throughout your trip. Each peaje costs 20-30 soles per person ($5-8 USD). I don’t mind paying, but it was pretty frustrating that there was no regulation or structure for when or where we’d encounter a peaje. Bring extra Soles.
Water: Water is plentiful along the route, so you really don’t need to carry more than a few hours worth. You do need to filter and treat it, though. We brought a water filter (a Sawyer Squeeze, although I wish I’d brought my GravityWorks because it’s easier and faster) and we also brought AquaMira drops to purify the water.
Food: Plan on packing all of your food. There are few to no resupplies along the entire Ausangate Circuit. We brought dehydrated meals for dinners, bars for breakfasts, and lighweight snack foods for lunch. The potential places for resupplies are: a small store in Chillca, a small store in Upis, and vendors at Rainbow Mountain.
Bike: We both had short travel hardtails with 2.2-2.3 ish tires. I thought the were pretty perfect and I was defintely glad to have some front suspension. The Aussie bikepacker we met on the circuit had a fully rigid touring bike and I think he’d agree that he struggled. A short travel hardtail is the way to go.
Gear: Check out my bikepacking gear list for a complete inventory on what to bring for a bikepacking trip. Specific for the Ausangate Circuit, you’ll want a warm sleeping bag and liner (my NEMO Disco 30 and Sea to Summit Reactor Liner worked great), a comprehensive tool and repair kit (there’s no one out there that will be able to help you in case of a mechanical), a water filter and purification system (see above), and a lightweight bikepacking bag set up. We both had a handlebar roll, frame bag, seat post bag, and a backpack. I highly recommend NOT doing panniers – they will be a pain in the ass on the hike-a-bikes.
Camping: It seems like you can camp pretty much anywhere on the Ausangate Circuit. There are a few ‘established’ campgrounds (don’t expect anything fancy), but you don’t need to rely on them for sleeping for the night. The one campground we did stay at was at the base of Rainbow Mountain. There were rustic shelters to set our tents up in and bathrooms. I also recommend using the free camping huts at Lake Pucacocha!
Altitude sickness: This is a biggie. We were a bit crunched for time, so we didn’t have a ton of days to accclimate. We did spend two nights in Cusco (elevation 11,152 feet), but we also took Diamox for the entirety of our trip, which I think really helped. Altitude sickness should be taken seriously! We had a plan for ‘escape routes’ in case one of us got sick, but luckily it didn’t come to that. But please do yourself a favor and have a plan for dealing with the altitude – the whole route is above 15,000 feet and you WILL feel it. For me, it affected my sleep mostly. But you can also get really nauseous, suffer from bad headaches, and just feel pretty terrible overall.
Phew, that’s a lot of info! I’m the kind of person who does some research and then likes to figure things out as my trip evolves. Hopefully, this guide will give a good starting point for putting together your Ausangate bikepacking trip. It’s an epic route with incredible views, tough climbs, and a real taste of remote Andean solitude. I absolutely loved this trip, but just know that it’s no walk in the park. Plan well and have an amazing time!
Is the Ausangate Circuit something you’d be up for bikepacking (or backpacking?) What questions do you still have? Leave a comment below!
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