Miguel Angel Gongora Meza is co-founder of Evolution Treks Peru, a pioneering trekking operator based in Cusco. Evolution Treks have established a strong reputation as an employee-owned trekking operator with a keen emphasis on social impact, offering fair conditions and wages for their workers and the first operator to empower women porters on the Inca Trail.
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: Approx 28 km
Duration: Three days
Max elevation: 4,440 metres
Accommodation: Camping
Start/end point: Socma to Ollantaytambo
The Cachiqata (Cachicata) trek, also known as the Quarry Trail, is one of my favourite short treks in the Sacred Valley area. Although close to Ollantaytambo, Cachiqata has a real “off the beaten path” vibe, with very few tourists compared to the area’s other more popular trekking routes.
The trail is named after an Inca Quarry in the mountains above Ollantaytambo. It’s an extensive site and was the main source of stone for the town. You can see quarried stone still left unfinished, burial houses and even a cave with mummies still in situ. This is the only trek around Machu Picchu where you can see firsthand the techniques used by Inca stonemasons to cut and shape rocks for the empire’s impressive constructions.
My preferred route starts from the small settlement of Socma, south of Ollantaytambo. You follow a valley towards the waterfalls and ruins at Perolniyoc before camping for the night in Rayan. The next day you climb a mountain pass and cross high Andean plateau until you reach Cachiqata quarry, going via an Inti Punku ‘sun gate,’ (not to be confused with the more famous sun gate on the Inca Trail), which offers a stunning balcony view of the majestic Veronica mountain.
On the third day you spend most of the day exploring the site before descending to Ollantaytambo. From here you can continue to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu, or head in the opposite direction back to Cusco.
No permits are required for this hike, unless you want to combine it with the KM 104 (short Inca Trail’) afterwards.
At a glance
Destinations
Sacred Valley
Activity
Adventure, Hiking & Trekking, Active, Walking, Nature & Wildlife, Culture, Archaeology, Responsible Travel, Slow TravelPhysical Level
Moderate
Duration
2 days
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