Ask serious trekkers to name the best multi-day trek on Earth, and the Huayhuash Circuit comes up more often than almost anywhere else — a nine-day loop around a compact range that packs in more 6,000m peaks per square kilometre than almost any other trekking destination, including Yerupajá, Peru’s second-highest mountain.
What sets Huayhuash apart from the Cordillera Blanca’s shorter routes is sheer sustained exposure to that scale: nearly every campsite sits beside a glacial lake in a different colour, and the circuit crosses passes above 4,700m on more than half its days, with San Antonio Pass near the 5,000m mark as the high point. This is a serious undertaking — remote, physically demanding, and reliant on mules and local community support rather than any national park infrastructure — but it rewards trekkers with scenery that rarely disappoints for a full nine days running.
Because the land is managed by a sequence of local communities rather than a single park authority, small transit fees are paid along the route instead of one upfront permit — a guide familiar with the current arrangements is genuinely useful here, not just a comfort. May through September is essential: the circuit’s high passes are not safely passable in the wet season.
