One of our favourite memories of Peru is the three-day/two-night hike into the Colca Canyon – Cañon de Colca in Spanish – one of the world’s deepest canyons. Located 220km northwest of Arequipa, the Colca Canyon is easily accessible (it’s still a long drive from Arequipa) and equally suitable for self-guided hikers and those preferring a guided or group hike experience.

After hiking in the famous Grand Canyon in Arizona just a few months earlier, we weren’t sure whether the much deeper Colca Canyon would measure up in terms of scenery. But it sure does. Like the Grand Canyon, the Colca Canyon is stunningly beautiful, albeit in a slightly different way. Both canyons are arid, but the Colca Canyon seems less so, almost lush by comparison really, as locals still cultivate the stepped terraces, growing corn and avocado.

And whereas the Grand Canyon seems to be this desolate, uninhabited wilderness (there’s only one remaining tribal village in Grand Canyon National Park, inhabited by the Havasupai people), the Colca Canyon is home to several communities allowing hikers an insight into rural Peruvian everyday life.

Hiking in the Colca Canyon is also a different experience from hiking in the Grand Canyon and much more comfortable. Instead of very basic campsites, the Colca Canyon boasts lovely guest houses with hot showers, beautiful home-cooked meals, and thermal baths.

Both canyons did have one thing in common, however, and that was the lack of wildlife. Maybe we were just unlucky because there were actually plenty of alpacas roaming the high plains on the drive to Cabanaconde. But once we started hiking, the only wildlife we saw over the three days was a couple of small birds.
If you‘re lucky, though, you might see Andean condors soaring above the canyon. We didn’t, but plenty of people join day tours from Arequipa to two lookout points on the rim of the canyon specifically to see condors.

Contrary to some online accounts we’ve read, we believe hiking the Colca Canyon is pretty straightforward and easily doable self-guided for experienced hikers (if you download gpx files for offline use). You could almost get away with carrying a small day pack actually. Of course, this being a canyon with a 1600m elevation difference between the rim and the canyon floor on day 1, you obviously need to pack some warm clothes. But with comfortable accommodation options available in several places, you’ll hardly need to pack anything else at all. You’ll also frequently pass through small communities as you walk through the canyon along the Rio Colca, with plenty of opportunities to stock up on snacks and drinks.

The only aspect of this hike that might require a little thought and planning is choosing the transport options between Arequipa and Cabanaconde that best fit your needs (see “Where and getting there” in trail details). And don’t forget to download the gpx files of this trek for offline use. There are few trail markers, if any, and navigating the opening stretch, in particular, wasn’t easy, with parts of the trek destroyed by a fire, it appeared.

There are several routes into the canyon, but if you follow this 3-day/2-night circuit itinerary, starting from and finishing in Cabanaconde, you’ll be spending your first night in Llahuar and the second in San Juan de Chuccho. It’s the longest loop you can hike in the canyon, with a total trail distance of 30km. That might not seem like a lot, stretched across 3 days, but there’s a 1000m elevation gain to tackle as well. 

Also, with the Colca Canyon located 220km from Arequipa, you need to allow for a 4-6 hour journey to and from the canyon on days 1 and 3 – unless, of course, you stay in Cabanaconde before and after your hike, which I wouldn’t recommend because the scenery inside the canyon is far more special. Gazing up at the sheer rock walls as daylight faded, the light grew softer, and the shadows longer was incredible.