If you Google the distance of Laguna Rajucolta from the small township of Macashca, it will tell you that it’s 20km one way. Luckily for Travis and I, the colectivo dropped us off about 5km from the National Park gates, so it only added another 2 hours to our walk. The trek from the National Park gates to the lake is less than 3 hour one way and a relatively flat one at that.

From our experience, I would recommend going to the lake by taxi and getting dropped off right up to the gates. The 100 – 200 soles fee may seem a lot, but the peace of mind of knowing that you have a ride back to Huaraz will be worth it. If you’re wanting to do it on the cheap like we did, make sure to go early because the colectivos stop running back to Huaraz by around 6pm.

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