CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
On the way it passes Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi, Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka and back through Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 67 km this is Sacred Valley Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
This is a stretch of the Inca road, and it is made for feet. The Qhapaq Ñan was the great road system of the Inca empire, more than thirty thousand kilometres of stone causeways, steps, bridges and tunnels linking the Pacific coast to the high Andes and from Colombia down to Chile and Argentina. UNESCO listed the network across six countries in 2014. The segment between Mach'ay and Samarinapata runs through the mountains of the Cusco region, west of Machu Picchu, and its name tells the story. A mach'ay is a cave, and samarina is a place to rest, so the route marks shelters and stopping points for travellers and for the chasquis, the relay runners who carried messages and goods at great speed across the empire.
Read the complete Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata is where the day begins. Next is Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu is the most famous place in the Andes, and it is also one of the hardest to reach for a rider, because no road goes there. The sanctuary is about thirty kilometres from Ollantaytambo, on a ridge nearly twenty-four hundred metres above the sea, above a loop of the Urubamba river, with cloud forest on every side. The citadel is reached only by train or by walking, and then by a bus up a zigzag road from the town of Aguas Calientes, at the foot of the mountain.
Read the complete Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu comes up about 124 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi.
Above Ollantaytambo, where the Sacred Valley of the Incas narrows, a side valley climbs north toward the high passes of the Urubamba range, following the Patacancha river. The segment between Patacancha and Huacahuasi is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road system, and it crosses some of the most beautiful country in the Cusco region: steep slopes covered with potato fields and terraces, small villages of stone and adobe houses, herds of llamas and alpacas grazing in high pastures, and snow-capped peaks above. The communities of this area, like Patacancha and Huacahuasi, are known for their weaving, with intricate designs and bright colours, and the women's traditional dress is among the most striking in the Andes.
Read the complete Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 286 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi. Next is Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka.
North-east of Cusco, the Andes begin their great fall towards the Amazon. Somewhere in the high grassland between Paucartambo and the edge of the cloud forest, the segment of Inca road between Paucarpata and Ichuka crosses the puna, a land of tussock grass, cold lakes and rocky ridges at well over 3,500 metres. It is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, and the rides that pass here link it with the Manú National Park, one of the most biodiverse protected areas on Earth, which stretches from these heights down into lowland rainforest.
Read the complete Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka, about halfway. Next is back through Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi sits at 475 km, about halfway. Next is back through Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu comes up about 589 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata closes the day.
Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata → Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is 124 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu → Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi is 162 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi → Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka → back through Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi → back through Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is 162 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu → Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata is 124 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.