Day long Hike to Inca ruins

Day long Hike to Inca ruins

This is a tough 17km hike for experienced, adventurous and fit trekkers! We travel up into the multi-coloured canyon of the Quebrada de Toro through stunning and rugged high altitude scenery: to visit the pre-Hispanic ruins of Incahuasi, which are only accessible by foot.

We start by scaling a steep gradient: a climb of nearly 1km in altitude over the first 3.75km, On this challenging hike, we reach a peak of 3,265m above sea level before a gentle descent to Inca ruins dating from the 15th century.

Pick-up at your hotel: we travel to Campo Quijano, a town famous as the base for workers constructing the Train to the Clouds railway line to Chile. We can stop to see an antique engine and the mausoleum of the train line's chief engineer, Richard Maury, from Philadephia, USA. Our guide is experienced in hiking all terrain, and speaks English and Spanish.

From here we will climb into the stunning multi-coloured Quebrada de Toro to Ingeniero Maury, where our hike begins. 90 minutes travel each way: the walk takes between 7 and 8 hours.

It's roughly a 12 hour day, returning to Salta between 7pm and 9pm.

Snacks and water are provided.

We recommend long trousers, long sleeved tops and sunhats: hiking boots or strong training shoes.