The Pastoruri Glacier tour has been renamed “Tur del Cambio Climático” (Tour of Climate Change) in reaction to the rapid melting of a glacier where people used to ski as recently as the 1990s.

The walk from the parking lot up to the glacier is just under 3km (2mi), though it ends at 5,200m (17,060ft), so take it easy if you’re new to altitude. The path is paved with stone and cement. It would be wheelchair accessible but for the occasional small step along the way. If you have an all terrain wheelchair, it’s doable.

It’s a 3 hour drive from Huaraz, but along the way you stop to see the Puya Raimondii and an area where springs bubble out of the valley floor.

Practicalities

On the way to Pastoruri most tours stop at a restaurant about 1 hour from Huaraz before continuing the 2 hours to the lake. They’ll ask you to place your order so it’ll be ready to serve on the way back. The stop at the restaurant on the way back to Huaraz is only about half an hour, mostly because the drive is so long.