Segment Machucucho-Choquecancha and Manú National Park
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
381 km
Riding-time estimate
10 h 39
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 381 km round trip from Lares - roughly 10 h 39 in the saddle. It goes by way of Segment Kintama-Tawis, Manú National Park and back through Segment Kintama-Tawis. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,100 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Segment Machucucho-Choquecancha
The Urubamba river is the great artery of Inca country, and everything near it feels like a rehearsal for Machu Picchu. This segment of the Qhapaq Nan, the Inca road network listed by UNESCO in 2014, runs between two places named Machucucho and Choquecancha in the highlands north-east of Cusco, where side valleys climb from the main river towards high passes and snow peaks.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Machucucho-Choquecancha is where the day begins. Next is Segment Kintama-Tawis.
2. Segment Kintama-Tawis
The Inca built a road network that stretched some thirty thousand kilometres along the Andes, from southern Colombia to central Chile, and much of it still exists as stone paths, staircases and causeways through the mountains. The Qhapaq Ñan, as it is called, was listed by UNESCO in 2014 as a set of segments across six countries. The Kintama-Tawis segment lies in the mountains north of the Sacred Valley of Cusco, in the high country between the valley and the cloud forests that descend toward the Amazon and the Manú national park.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Kintama-Tawis comes up 64 km in. Next is Manú National Park.
3. Manú National Park
Manú is arguably the richest place on the planet for living things, and it earns that status through a single, dizzying slope. The national park runs from the high grasslands of the Andes at over 4,000 metres down through cloud forest and into the lowland Amazon rainforest, at about 300 metres, in a few dozen kilometres, and each step of the way holds different life. More than a thousand species of birds have been recorded, along with jaguars, giant otters, tapirs, spider monkeys and uncounted insects. UNESCO listed it in 1987 and the core zone is closed to visitors, with a few Indigenous groups living in voluntary isolation.