The Hiking World

Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca)

Curated schematic — not walking distance. Pin-to-pin OSM named-waypoint line Phulawasipata → Vinicunca viewpoint. Cited itinerary ~7 km round (provisional, secondary). Community trailhead fee (reported secondary). High 5,036 m is the Vinicunca landmark.

Last verified 2026-09-21 · no issuer named on the permit

Byline

  • The Hiking World editorial · author

    Desk byline for seed records. Named surveying editors replace this once a trail is verified.

Vinicunca rainbow mountain ridge, Cusco, Peru

Figures marked provisional are seed data and still need verification. Source and last-checked date sit under each cited value.

Permits and fees

PermitCostQuota / restrictionIssuerSourceVerified
Local community entrance fee (trailhead)Reported (secondary) — confirm before travelNot recorded—Not recordedNot recordedUnverified
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This line is a schematic. The files are not a GPS track. GPX · GeoJSON

Facts-13.870, -71.332
Distance7 km*
operator itinerary (cited ~7 km round; schematic — not walking distance) · 2026-09-21 · editorial · provisional
Ascent+388 m*
Copernicus GLO-30 (2 schematic pins, not a walking profile) · 2026-09-21 · dem · provisional
Descent0 m*
Copernicus GLO-30 (2 schematic pins, one-way; not a walking profile) · 2026-09-21 · dem · provisional
High point5,036 m*
cited Vinicunca viewpoint landmark ~5,036 m (Wave P evidence; not DEM at pin) · 2026-09-21 · editorial · provisional
Low point4,620 m*
Copernicus GLO-30 (Phulawasipata pin) · 2026-09-21 · dem · provisional
Routeout-and-back
Days1
SeasonDry season Apr–Nov (Wikipedia / Wave P evidence, reported secondary, 2026-09-21)
GradeSAC T2 (mapped — no official SAC grade) · YDS 1

Editorial v1 · Provisional catalog

DifficultyUngraded — schematic, no OSM sac_scale line
SAC T2 (mapped — no official SAC grade)
Mountain hiking. Continuous trail, some steep ground, sure-footedness helpful.
YDS Class 1
Class 1. Walking on an established path; low fall risk.

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Curated schematic from named OpenStreetMap nodes (ODbL). The line is pin-to-pin, not a surveyed walking path. Pin-to-pin 2-D length 3.20 km is schematic — not walking distance and is not this DataPoint. The published distance is the cited ~7 km round (operator itinerary, secondary, provisional). Return retraces; the stored line is not doubled. Ascent and descent are Copernicus GLO-30 samples at those two pins only, not a walking profile, and remain provisional. The elevation-profile km axis follows the schematic pins, not the cited itinerary.

No Peru Rainbow Mountain hiking relation resolved on 2026-09-21. Same-name waymarked trails on other continents were not used. Pins: Phulawasipata → Vinicunca viewpoint. osmRelationId is unset. Never graduate to verified without a connected OSM hiking relation.

typicalDays 1 is the cited itinerary window (secondary), not a DataPoint.

High 5,036 m is the cited Vinicunca viewpoint landmark (Wave P evidence, lastVerified 2026-09-21) — not the GLO-30 sample at the viewpoint pin (5,008 m). Low 4,620 m is Copernicus GLO-30 at the Phulawasipata pin (lastVerified 2026-09-21), still provisional. Ascent 388 m / descent 0 m are pin-sample DEM on the one-way schematic, not a walking profile.

Permit is a local community entrance fee at the trailhead (Wikipedia / Wave P evidence, reported secondary, 2026-09-21). No government walking permit is asserted. Amount was not copied as a statute this pass.

Water

No water sources recorded.

Surface

Surface is not recorded. This field is filled only from an OSM surface tag, not from the grade.

Permits & fees

Permit
Local community entrance fee (trailhead)

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Getting there

No sourced gateway chain yet.

Trailheads

  • Phulawasipata (schematic start) car-free: unknown
  • Vinicunca viewpoint (schematic end) car-free: unknown

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Hazards

  • Altitude / AMS: cited Vinicunca landmark 5,036 m (GLO-30 at the viewpoint pin 5,008 m). This is a high-altitude day walk, not a casual hike.

Questions

Do I need a permit for Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca)?

A permit is listed as required for Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca): Local community entrance fee (trailhead). Status is unverified. This desk does not treat that as an official ruling.

When is the best time to hike Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca)?

On this record the best season is: Dry season Apr–Nov (Wikipedia / Wave P evidence, reported secondary, 2026-09-21).

How difficult is Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca)?

Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca) is graded SAC T2 (mapped — no official SAC grade) · YDS 1. A sourced hazard on this record: Altitude / AMS: cited Vinicunca landmark 5,036 m (GLO-30 at the viewpoint pin 5,008 m). This is a high-altitude day walk, not a casual hike.

How long is Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca)?

This figure is 7 km (provisional): a schematic straight-line estimate between waypoints — not a measured walking distance; published figures are the better guide. See /guides/how-long-is-the-trail

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