Why this ride
A named mountain-road corridor with sustained elevation change and pass scenery. It links naturally to Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Abra Málaga to Santa Teresa
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 144 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 37
- 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: 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.
Editorial context
Coordinates are curated start-via-end route seeds. They are not a surveyed centreline or navigation geometry. Run road snapping, topology checks, access checks and a live-status review before publication.
Access context
Do not auto-publish. Snap to a routable road network, verify current closures, legal motorcycle access, surface, permits, border controls and local safety information.
Seasonal context
May-Sep
Scenic road chapters
Sacred Valley Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 15 km this is Sacred Valley Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 15 km
- Named road
- Sacred Valley Route
- Pass
- Abra Málaga
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo is an Inca town in the Sacred Valley of Peru, about 2,800 metres above sea level, and unlike most Inca sites it is not a ruin: people live here in houses laid out on the original Inca street plan, and the streets, with their stone channels of running water, are some of the oldest continuously inhabited in South America. Above the town, a huge stepped terrace climbs the mountainside to a temple complex, built for the emperor Pachacuti in the fifteenth century, with enormous stones fitted so tightly that a knife blade will not pass between them.
Read the complete Ollantaytambo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ollantaytambo sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Abra Malaga.
2. Abra Málaga
You cross Abra Málaga in one climate and descend in another. On the Urubamba side the valley is dry, dusty and Andean, with terraces, eucalyptus and the white shoulders of Nevado Verónica high above. Then the road tops out at 4,316 metres, a cold, windswept saddle of grass and rock, and plunges into the cloud forest on the eastern slope, where the air gets thick, wet and green and the temperature climbs a degree with every switchback. By the time you reach Santa María, a thousand-odd metres lower, you are in the edge of the Amazon basin, with orchids, bamboo, coffee bushes and mist hanging on every ridge.
Read the complete Abra Malaga write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abra Málaga comes up 23 km in. Next is Santa Teresa Peru.
3. Santa Teresa Peru
Santa Teresa lies in the cloud forest on the eastern slopes of the Andes, in the valley of the Urubamba River, and it is one of the places where the mountains give way to the jungle. At about fifteen hundred metres, the air is warm and damp, the hillsides are covered with coffee, bananas and avocados, and the sound of water is everywhere. The village is small and rough around the edges, and it is best known as a back door to Machu Picchu, which lies over the ridge to the east, reached by walking along the railway from the hydroelectric station nearby.
Read the complete Santa Teresa Peru write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
144 km in you reach Santa Teresa Peru.