Also on the map ofAndes‹ American CordilleraHistoric Sanctuary of Machu Picchu
Salcantay
- Mapped trail
- 6.2 km+781 m · about 3 h · T2Ends 1,590 m below the summit.
- Prominence
- 2,540 m8,333 ft
- Isolation
- 150 km
- Tonight
- -12°CFog · Wind 8 km/h S
Salcantay is a 6,271 m (20,574 ft) mountain in the Vilcabamba mountain range, Cusco Department, Peru.
All facts
- Elevation
- 6,271 m · 20,574 ft
- Nearest higher peak
- Ausangate (6,372 m)
- Range
- Vilcabamba mountain range
- Region
- Cusco Department, Peru
- Protected area
- Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu
- Coordinates
- 13.3335° S, 72.5435° W
Trails toward Salcantay
Mapped trails from the road get to 1,590 m below the summit, typically a pass, lake or camp. The top itself is a mountaineering climb with no mapped route.
From Road end near Soraypampa
- Distance
- 6.2 kmone way
- Climb
- +781 m−10 m (2,562 ft up)
- Time up
- about 3 h
- Difficulty
- T2Mountain trail, sure footing needed
Ends 1,590 m below the summit.
Routes © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the ODbL. Climb from the terrain model. Trails change and maps miss things: check conditions locally.
Salcantay 3D map
Drag to orbit · click, then scroll to zoom (or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll) · One finger scrolls the page · two fingers orbit and zoom · 14.2 × 14.2 km
Salcantay terrain and contours
200 m contours from the Copernicus GLO-30 terrain model. The route drawn is the easiest mapped one, from Soraypampa. Click two points on the map to draw your own cross-section.Tap two points on the map to draw your own cross-section.
West → east through the summit
Salcantay weather
Tonight · Fog · -12°C (10°F) · Wind 8 km/h S
Salcantay forecast for the summit, about 6,271 m. Summit vs base: the Base line is for about 3,859 m.
- Tonight-12°–8 km/h SBase 0°
- Sat-10°-1°0.1 mm12 km/h NBase 3 / 15°
- Sun-11°-2°1.3 mm13 km/h NBase 4 / 14°
- Mon-11°-7°3.8 mm8 km/h NWBase 3 / 10°
- Tue-11°-6°3.4 mm9 km/h NBase 3 / 12°
- Wed-11°-6°3.3 mm9 km/h NBase 2 / 12°
- Thu-10°-4°13.9 mm9 km/h NBase 6 / 13°
- Fri-9°-5°1.3 mm9 km/h NBase 5 / 12°
- Sat-10°-6°3.3 mm9 km/h NBase 5 / 14°
- Sun-12°-5°2.7 mm10 km/h NBase 2 / 14°
Forecast data: MET Norway, CC BY 4.0; daily low and high, precipitation total and strongest wind from the hourly data, model run Oct 23, 23:18 UTC.
Camping & parking near Salcantay
Campsites, parking, trailheads and mountain huts mapped in OpenStreetMap around Salcantay, nearest first, by straight-line distance. Check access, fees and permits locally.
Nearest campsite
Palqay Range free camping
Nearest caravan site
Camping Lima Tours
Nearest hut
Salkantay Cabins Machu Picchu
All mapped places 7
| Place | Distance |
|---|---|
| Campsite | 3.0 km SW |
| Palqay Range free campingCampsite | 3.5 km NNE |
| Campsite | 3.7 km SE |
| Hut | 7.0 km SW |
| Camping Lima ToursCaravan site | 7.3 km SSW |
| Salkantay Cabins Machu PicchuHut | 7.7 km SSW |
| Cabañas Andinas Eco Lodge Mamá AndreaHut | 7.8 km SSW |
How steep is the route to Salcantay?
The easiest mapped route, 6.2 km from 3,859 m to 4,634 m. Steepest stretch: 23°.
- 0–15°5.6 km
- 15–30°0.6 km
Grades are averaged between profile points about 70 m apart, so short steeper steps don’t show.
Land cover
ESA WorldCover 10 m classification of the same area.
Snow & ice means glaciers and year-round snow (a yearly average), not today’s snow cover.
Nearby summits
Named peaks within 7.1 km, measured from the Salcantay summit.
Summit list 4
- 1Humantay Peak5,638 m 5.0 km SW
- 2Humantay5,473 m 5.4 km NW
- 3Tukarway5,928 m 6.2 km WSW
- 4P'allqay5,422 m 6.6 km NE
Wildlife seen nearby
Sightings of the most-seen species on iNaturalist (research grade) within 7.1 km; 214 species recorded in all.
Sightings per species 6
- Mountain Viscacha58
- Plumbeous Sierra Finch53
- Cream-winged Cinclodes30
- Rufous-collared Sparrow29
- Glacier Finch24
- Andean Goose23
Where Salcantay sits
- Range
- American Cordillera467Andes163
- Region
- Cusco Department11Peru57South America235
- Protected area
- Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu3
Nearby places
WarmiwañusqaPass↑12 km NNE
PutucusiPeak · 2,560 m↑20 km N
Veronica MountainPeak · 5,893 m↑30 km NE
Q'illu Q'asaPeak · 5,000 m↑49 km WSW
AmpayPeak · 5,236 m↑49 km WSW
More 1
More in the Andes 6
Salcantay downloads: topographic map, heightmap, STL 3D model and DEM
Free files made in your browser from this page's terrain data. No sign-up; credit the sources below.
Print & wall
3D printing & 3D apps
Free to use with credit: see the data sources
How accurate is this?
45 m low This 3D map reads 6,226 m at the summit; the official height is 6,271 m.
Why: a 30 m terrain model averages each cell, so a sharp summit gets rounded off. The 90 m model misses by 54 m.
| Source | Summit | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Official height (Wikidata) | 6,271 m | — |
| Copernicus GLO-30 (used on this page) | 6,226 m | -45 m |
| Copernicus GLO-90 | 6,217 m | -54 m |
Data sources
- Terrain
- Produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. The European Union, ESA, DLR and Airbus incur no liability for any use of this data and do not endorse this service.
- Imagery
- Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026 (scene 2026-07-05)
- Land cover
- © ESA WorldCover project 2021 / Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021) processed by ESA WorldCover consortium
- Facts
- Wikidata (CC0)
- Routes, Camping & parking
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
- Summits
- © OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overture Maps Foundation (ODbL)
- Wildlife
- iNaturalist community observations, counts only
- Accuracy comparison, Panorama
- Includes Copernicus WorldDEM-90 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. The European Union, ESA, DLR and Airbus incur no liability for any use of this data and do not endorse this service.
- Forecast
- Weather forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)
- Sources
- Wikidata · OpenStreetMap · Wikipedia