Huascaran National Park is located in the Cordillera Blanca region and contains Peru’s tallest mountain, Mount Huascaran, along with hundreds of glaciers (Pastoruri Glacier) and blue Llanganuco lagoons and lakes (Lake 69 in the featured image). May to September is the best time to visit and hike in the national park. Huaraz is the region’s capital with Comandante FAP Germán Arias Graziani Airport (ATA).
Award booking flights to Lima & Huaraz
AA miles are often the cheapest way to book business class flights to Lima (see image below) and cash flights are reasonably priced from Lima to Huaraz (ATA).
Alaska miles cost 35K for the same booking, but a free stopover is possible in Lima before heading to Huaraz. LATAM releases award space 330 days ahead of time and it is easy to book business class seats with Alaska miles.
Huaraz Accommodation
It is not easy to rent a car in Huaraz airport with the typical car rental companies like Hertz and booking sites like Kayak. Once you land at Huaraz airport, I recommend heading directly to Yungay near Huascaran National Park and pre-arrange for a taxi from them.
Huascaran National Park Accommodation
Booking.com has a few properties 10-15 miles away (link), but I recommend staying at Llanganuco Mountain Lodge (also called Cordillera Blanca Lodge) which is located next to the Huascaran National Park.
Key information at Cordillera Blanca Lodge
- The Cordillera Blanca lodge has excellent TripAdvisor reviews and the owner, Charlie, is easy to reach via WhatsApp (+51938202221).
- It is a full-board establishment with no other nearby dining options and you must add the cost to the price of the rooms at the time of booking.
- Full-board charges are $55usd per adult, kids <12yrs: $41, <9yrs: $28, <6yrs: $14 (20% discount for cash payments).
- Cordillera Blanca Lodge accepts PayPal payments to pay for the main stay. You must pay in cash for everything else.
- It is important to bring Peruvian Soles (small & large denominations) from an ATM while you are in Lima or Huaraz.
- Breakfast includes fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, orange juice, sausage, avocado, toast, grilled tomato, eggs, oats, and crepes. Packed lunches include sandwiches, fresh fruit, and trail mix. Dinners include soup, main course, and dessert.
- Rooms have electricity only from 4pm to 8am powered by solar energy.
- Electronic devices (phones and computers) must be charged in the hotel reception/bar as there are no plugs in the rooms.
- It is useful to bring a rechargeable battery pack with type C ports to charge your portable devices during the stay.
- WiFi at the lodge is only available in the reception/lounge area (NOT in the guest rooms).
- Your cellular signal may not work in this remote region.
- Visitors must be prepared to pay steep taxi prices to reach the lodge from the airport and for the nearby hikes. For example, taking a roundtrip taxi to the Lago 69 hike can cost 440 Peruvian Soles ($130 USD). However, the taxi can be shared by up to 4 people for the same price and the driver will wait around 10 hours at the trails to bring you back to the lodge.
Taxi Prices to and from the lodge (in Soles):
Huascaran National Park Hikes
AllTrails has several wonderful hikes (link) in the Huascaran National Park and one could easily spend 7-10 days exploring them. It is important to acclimatize to the high altitude for the first two days after arriving before attempting hiking.
Huascaran National Park Scenery
Conclusion
Huascaran National Park is one of Peru’s most scenic attractions and must be visited by nature lovers. Peru flights are easy to book using points, which makes it easy to explore several other attractions in the country (Nazca lines review).