Santa Cruz Trek

A stunning 4-day trek through the Cordillera Blanca over the Punta Unión pass at 4750 meters. You'll hike through breathtaking landscapes with spectacular mountains, such as the Paramount mountain.

This challenging trek can only be done by camping and can be completed with or without a guide. Organized tours often start and end in Huaraz.

Number of days: 4 days
Starting point: Huaraz (village of Vaqueria)
Ending point: Huaraz (village of Cashapampa)
Difficulty: Challenging
Characteristic: Stunning mountains, glacier lakes, and varied vegetation

Glacies lakes and steep peaks

Unparalleled natural beauty, with steep granite peaks, glistening glacier lakes, and colorful meadows. Due to the altitude and rugged nature, it's a challenging trek.

Punta Unión and Lake Arhuaycocha

The highlight of the trek is literally and figuratively the Punta Unión pass at almost 4800 meters altitude. Additionally, on the 3rd day, there is an opportunity to hike to and from Lake Arhuaycocha, a stunning azure glacier lake surrounded by snow-capped peaks.

Altitude sickness

The trek is certainly a tough one with significant elevation gain at high altitude. However, anyone who is physically fit could complete the trek. One of the biggest obstacles is altitude sickness and the cold during camping at night. Read this blog about altitude sickness and how to prevent. The second day over the pass is by far the most challenging. After that, it's all downhill.

With or without a guide?

The route can be hiked without a guide as the trail is well-marked, and there's essentially no other way to go. Additionally, all campsites lack restroom facilities, and you'll have to camp. The advantage of an organized tour is that they carry your bags, provide meals, and ensure your safety. Particularly, safety was an important consideration for us, as you're in rugged terrain at high altitudes. We ultimately chose to trek without a guide because there are always other groups along the route and at the campsites who can assist if needed. It's important to note that we had recently completed an organized high-altitude trek, so we were confident about altitude sickness. If you don't have experience with this, I would recommend trekking with an organized tour for safety.

Dry season from April till October

Peru's dry season runs from April to October, with June, July, and August being the driest months. These are also the busiest months. However, the trek is feasible year-round.

Starting point: Huaraz or Vaqueria

The organized tours depart from Huaraz. Huaraz can only be reached by bus from the capital Lima. This bus takes about 8 to 11 hours, but they are extremely comfortable buses, so certainly not a punishment.
Are you going independently? Then you take the collectivo from Huaraz to Yungay, which takes about an hour. Here you change to a collectivo to Vaqueria. This is not a long road in terms of kilometers, but the dirt road runs over a mountain pass, so it will take you almost 3 hours. This is a beautiful road with great views and along azure blue lakes along the way!

 Key tips:

1. Bring plenty of layers and warm clothing. Nights can be very cold, especially when combined with strong winds. We slept in everything we had (jacket, clothes, hat, gloves) and still felt quite chilly at night. Check here for a packing list for a trek with a tent.
2. Start with a few day hikes in Huaraz to acclimatize. Due to the altitude, there is less oxygen in the air, and you may experience altitude sickness. By acclimatizing properly and staying hydrated, you can try to prevent this. Read more tips here to prevent altitude sickness.
3. Bring wet wipes! There are no shower facilities along the entire route. Wet wipes can help you freshen up a bit.
4. Bring plenty of food! It's a challenging trek at high altitude, and it cools down quickly in the afternoon. You'll burn a lot of calories and want to keep warm. Therefore, make sure to pack enough snacks for hiking and a good, warm meal for bedtime. Check here for tips on the right nutrition.
5. Download the area and mark the camping spots on the Maps.me app. In principle, the route is self-explanatory, but if you get lost or have poor visibility, the GPS on Maps.me can take you to the right place.
   
6. Bring several bottles with water filters. There are no opportunities to get water along the way. The water from the river comes directly from the mountains so should in principle be clean, but there are many cows in the area so never drink directly from the streams! Our favorite to drink from are the LifeStraw bottles. But for cooking and brushing your teeth, it is also better to take a bottle with a pressure system for filtering. You then press the water through the filter and you can then pour it out, for example in your pan for cooking. With the cold temperatures and strong winds, it is very difficult to actually get water to boil. We have the Grayl Ultrapress for this and are very satisfied with it.
   

Day Program

Day 1: Vaqueria → Paria (4 hours)
From Huaraz, you'll travel by van for 4 hours along a stunning road over the Portachuele Pass to Vaqueria. The hike begins from there, and you'll leisurely walk to the first camp.

Day 2: Paria → Taullipampa (8 hours)
By far the toughest day! From the camp, it's a 5-hour uphill hike to the Punta Unión pass at 4750 meters. At the top of the pass, you'll walk through a sort of gateway with breathtaking views of snow-capped mountains, a turquoise glacier lake, and wide valleys on both sides. Take a moment to enjoy this scenery before continuing to walk gently to the camp. This camp is located at 4250 meters, meaning it can get icy cold at night. Additionally, the camp is situated in a wide valley where it can be very windy.

Day 3: Taullipampa → Llamacoral (8 hours)
Today, there's an opportunity to leave your tent standing first and make a side trip with a smaller, lighter backpack to Lake Arhuaycocha. This is a beautiful blue lake and highly recommended! Allow an extra 3 to 4 hours for this excursion. Upon returning to your tent, you'll walk for 5 hours to the next camp. The route passes through a sort of desert area with snow-capped mountains in the background, a particularly unique sight. At the camp, there's a small shack where a man sells snacks and food. The chips have never tasted so good :)

Day 4: Llamacoral → Cashapampa (3 hours)
The last and peaceful day. In 3 hours, you'll descend along a river to the inhabited world. From the village of Cashapampa, you can take a van to Yungay and from there, return to Huaraz.