This incred­i­ble itin­er­ary serves of a heap­ing por­tion of his­to­ry, cul­ture and out­door adven­ture, tak­ing you from the foot hills of the Andes, the world’s sec­ond largest moun­tain range, and through one of the most bio diverse areas of the world: the Ama­zon jun­gle of Peru. 

Unlike the tourist hordes, you’ll get acquaint­ed with a side of Peru very few peo­ple do on the best modes of trans­porta­tion to take it all in: by moun­tain bike and by foot. 

In addi­tion to the spec­tac­u­lar geog­ra­phy, your local guides won’t miss an oppor­tu­ni­ty to show you the fas­ci­nat­ing cul­tur­al her­itage of Peru as you trav­el through remote vil­lages where Quechua is still the main lan­guage spo­ken, stay in local­ly-owned lodges and vis­it spec­tac­u­lar Inca sites.   The back­coun­try grav­el roads on this tour  make for the ulti­mate bik­ing and hik­ing adven­ture,  criss­cross­ing some seri­ous­ly spec­tac­u­lar scenery along the way.

Is This Ride For You?

You are an adven­ture-seek­er look­ing to get out of your ele­ment and expe­ri­ence the lure and vibran­cy of Peru­vian cul­ture in a more mean­ing­ful way than behind the win­dow of a tour bus. You have a good lev­el of fit­ness, and some expe­ri­ence on a moun­tain bike. You are com­fort­able rid­ing grav­el & dirt roads, remote fire roads and jeep tracks for up to 4 hours or 40km a day. Spend­ing a night camp­ing and stay­ing in back­coun­try cab­ins through the Ama­zon jun­gle sounds like an excit­ing and immer­sive cul­tur­al expe­ri­ence to you!

Itinerary

Day 1. Arrive in Cus­co, Peru

Wel­come to Peru!

We offer an air­port pick-up on Day 1 at 11:00 a.m. from the air­port in Cus­co (Ale­jan­dro Velas­co Astete Inter­na­tion­al Air­port CUZ). After col­lect­ing your bag­gage, head out to the main pas­sen­ger pick-up area of the air­port, and look for your shut­tle dri­ver with a Sacred Rides sign in their hand. We’ll then trans­fer you to our hotel in Cusco.

After set­tling in to your hotel in Cus­co, we’ll head out for an ear­ly lunch near the bustling main plaza of Cus­co. After lunch, we’ll head back to our hotel to build our bikes. We’ll then head out right from our hotel for a short intro ride to the upper part of the city. Once we are on top of the city, we’ll ride down an Inca trail with a few sur­pris­es thrown in. We’ll end our ride back at our hotel leav­ing enough time to explore Cus­co or catch up on a few lost Z’s from travel.

Tonight, we’ll head to one of the best restau­rants in Cus­co. At din­ner, we’ll take the time to review in detail our full itin­er­ary for the week and answer any ques­tions you may have. Tonight, we can enjoy some of the nightlife this Impe­r­i­al city has to offer.

Day 2. Machu Picchu

(Please Note: the Machu Pic­chu tour is not includ­ed in the trip price. Please vis­it the Add-Ons tabs for pric­ing. The Machu Pic­chu tour includes return train ride to Aguas Calientes, bus to Machu Pic­chu, admis­sion and guide.)

We high­ly rec­om­mend you vis­it Machu Pic­chu while in Peru, con­sid­ered one of the 7 won­ders of the world! The Machu Pic­chu tour starts with a train ride from Ollan­tay­tam­bo to the town of Aguas Calientes. From there we’ll take a bus up to the Citadel. Machu Pic­chu (like most of the Quechua names of towns and dif­fer­ent sites in the region) is a com­pound word that comes from Machu = old or ancient, and Pic­chu = peak or moun­tain; therefore,

Machu Pic­chu is trans­lat­ed as “Old Moun­tain”. The famous moun­tain that appears in most of the clas­si­cal views of the site is named Way­na Pic­chu (Young Moun­tain). We’ll have the entire day to explore the remark­able Citadel and learn about its well-pre­served secrets.

Tonight, we’ll dine in Yanahuara Vil­lage and head back to our lodge for a good night of rest.

NOTE:   For those not inter­est­ed in vis­it­ing Machu Pic­chu, oth­er activ­i­ties will be avail­able to Add-On to your trip, includ­ing: a short bike ride around Ollan­tay­tam­bo, a hike on the Moun­tains of the Sacred Val­ley or raft­ing. Pric­ing for these activ­i­ties will depend on the # of par­tic­i­pants. Please con­tact us to be added to the list for those not par­tic­i­pat­ing in Machu Pic­chu and for more infor­ma­tion on pricing.

Day 3. From Cus­co to Camp­ing at Tres Cruces

After break­fast, we’ll start our jour­ney to the Ama­zon jungle.

We’ll be trans­ferred from our hotel in the Sacred Val­ley to the vil­lage of Huan­car­ani, locat­ed at an ele­va­tion of 3,900m (12,795ft.) where we’ll start our ride.  Our descent down the val­ley will take us past sev­er­al Andean vil­lages where Quechua is still the main lan­guage. From this part of the Andes we’ll have incred­i­ble views of the Auzan­gate Moun­tain (6,372m).  As we con­tin­ue our descent, we’ll expe­ri­ence warmer weath­er as we end our ride next to an Inca Fortress.

Todays lunch will be held in a 500 year old church!

After lunch, we’ll load up our bikes on our shut­tle and climb to Tres Cruces, reach­ing the entrance to Manu Nation­al Park.

Tres Cruces is locat­ed at an alti­tude of 3,630m (11,909ft.) and it’s the last moun­tain before the Ama­zon jungle.

We’ll arrive into camp with our site ready and wait­ing!  This after­noon, high above the val­ley with views to remem­ber, we’ll enjoy a group din­ner at camp. 

Camping equipment included for Riders:

- 4 per­son tents (but not to wor­ry, there will only be 2 Rid­ers per tent!)

- Inflat­able mattresses

- Sleep­ing bag (pil­lows are not includ­ed, but your rolled up down coat will work just fine!)

Camping equipment included for the Group:

- Canopy tent

- Din­ing table

- Chairs

- Light

- Music

Please Note:   This loca­tion is very remote, and does not offer run­ning water for a flush­ing toi­let or a show­er. A pri­vate wash­room facil­i­ty is avail­able, sim­i­lar to that of an outhouse.

Day 4. From Tres Cruces to San Pedro Lodge

Regard­less of how much you like your Z’s, you can­not miss this sunrise!

We’ll brew some camp cof­fee and eat an easy camp break­fast, while we watch the sun peek over the moun­tain tops. Cam­eras ready!

After pack­ing up our gear, we’ll start our ride down to the Ama­zon jun­gle. It’s almost all descend­ing from here as we expe­ri­ence a dra­mat­ic change in the veg­e­ta­tion and weath­er.  We’ll reach our lodge in San Pedro, locat­ed at an alti­tude of 1,300m (4,265ft.).    The cab­ins are prim­i­tive  in a remote wilder­ness setting.

We’ll enjoy  lunch at San Pedro Lodge, then set out on a hike to find the Cock of the Rocks, the nation­al bird of Peru. They are found in trop­i­cal and sub­trop­i­cal rain­forests close to rocky areas, where they build their nests. The males are mag­nif­i­cent birds, not only because of their bright orange or red col­ors, but also because of their very promi­nent fan-shaped crests. They are wary ani­mals and pri­mar­i­ly feed on fruits and berries.

After spot­ting a few, and grab­bing some pho­tos, we’ll head back to San Pedro Lodge for din­ner and a good night’s rest.

Day 5. From San Pedro Lodge to Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge

After break­fast at San Pedro Lodge, our ride will start with a descent all the way to the low­er lands of the Ama­zon jungle.

You will feel the dras­tic change in ele­va­tion, tem­per­a­ture and humid­i­ty. We’ve reached the jun­gle folks!

We’ll pass through sev­er­al small vil­lages, cross big rivers and reach the vil­lage of Ata­laya where we’ll board a small boat to Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge. The boat ride down the Alto Madre de Dios Riv­er will offer mag­nif­i­cent views of wildlife and remote riv­er-side communities.

We’ll set­tle in and enjoy lunch at Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge. The cab­ins are prim­i­tive in a remote wilder­ness setting.

After lunch, we’ll hike a short trail through the sur­round­ing area before soak­ing in the riv­er to cool down.

Tonight, we’ll enjoy a remote din­ner at Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge.

Day 6. From Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge to San Pedro Lodge

Ear­ly this morn­ing, we’ll enjoy a hearty break­fast at Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge.

After break­fast, we’ll head out on a remark­able 5km wildlife hike, where we’re like­ly to spot mon­keys, frogs, tapirs, and capybaras.After lunch at Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge, we’ll pack up the boat and start our return up the Alto Madre de Dios River.

Once we reach Ata­laya, we’ll hop on our bikes and return to San Pedro Lodge.

Tonight, we’ll enjoy din­ner at San Pedro Lodge.

Day 7. From San Pedro Lodge to Cusco

After break­fast at San Pedro Lodge, we’ll shut­tle to the moun­tain pass of Pisac.

From Pisac, we’ll hop on our bikes and start the descent down the remark­able Sacred Valley.

By days end, we’ll reach Cus­co, set­tle into our hotel and head out for our final din­ner. We’ll cheers a round of Pis­co Sours to the incred­i­ble mem­o­ries this week of adven­ture has created!

Day 8. Adiós to Cusco

We have reached the last day of our amaz­ing trip in Peru and it’s time to say good­bye to Cus­co and it’s won­der­ful Inca Trails.

We’ll arrange for your shut­tle to the air­port based on your indi­vid­ual flight times.


The fol­low­ing data rep­re­sents a typ­i­cal itin­er­ary, but adven­ture trav­el can be unpre­dictable and our Guides may need to make last-minute changes to ensure your enjoy­ment. Inclement weath­er, road clo­sures, changes to the itin­er­ary to accom­mo­date requests, and oth­er issues may affect the itin­er­ary. The ride data rep­re­sents an ‘aver­age’ itin­er­ary, and may dif­fer when you actu­al­ly show up to ride. Our guides make every effort to stick to the itin­er­ary as post­ed, but your safe­ty is our #1 priority.

Ride Data: Cusco to the Amazon

Day Hours of rid­ing Dis­tance rid­den Ele­va­tion gained Ele­va­tion lost High­est ele­va­tion
1 0 6 951 951 12106
2 0 0 0 0 0
3 2 17 1181 2559 10827
4 3.5 40 581 7972 12041
5 4 27 722 3609 4265
6 2 27 3609 722 4265
7 4 16 26 3773 13681
8 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 15.5 HRS

Picture Yourself Here

Book Cusco to the Amazon Now

Dates chosen: Jun. 08, 2024—Jun. 15, 2024
Skill Rating: Green Circle
Fitness Rating: Blue Square
Exit Booking
Skill Levels
Black Diamond

The Black Diamond Rides are  suitable for riders looking for that edge. Maybe it’s the edge of a drop, the edge of a cliff, or singletrack requiring focus and fast reactions developed from extensive experience riding “the edge”. You will find yourself on steep trails of varied surfaces. In the Pacific North West that could be slick roots and loam, in Nepal you will find exposed granite in the Mustang Valley and in Guatemala it maybe narrow stairways through cliffside villages. While airtime is rarely required, the ability to find the backside or clean a tabletop should be comfortable or in a state of progress. Obstacles on Black rides are likely to be outside the range of your bikes ability to cover your goofs with its awesome suspension and grip.

Blue Square

In general, Blue trails are narrower than green trails, encounter unavoidable obstacles such as roots, rocks, and drops that are up to 8-inches tall. You will want to have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of mountain biking including body positions, powerful braking, cornering, riding on varied terrain, steep sections and experience riding trails that requires line choice. Airtime is not mandatory, but you will find yourself on trails with alternate lines giving you the option.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black ride is for those that already know they are looking for a Double Black. It’s going to be very hard and require advanced bike handling skills. You will find yourself on trails with sections most non-riders would look at and say, “that’s totally nuts!”. You will know how to look at a line and contemplate where it will work and where it won’t. Drops of a couple feet should be comfortable and getting your bike off the ground should feel predictable and fun.

Green Circle

Typically, green Rides are safe for beginners. Green Rides may have both avoidable and unavoidable obstacles. Trails are generally low grade, wide, consistent surface texture and have minimal features. You are likely to come across unavoidable obstacles 2-inches or shorter, which is small enough for mountain bike tires to simply roll over. More challenging than tarmac, but in general, a wonderful Ride for those riders new to mountain biking or looking for a casual experience.

Fitness Levels
Black Diamond

A Black Fitness ride will test you. Aside from needing to be able to manage up to 6 hours on the bike, day after day, including distance up to 50km/30miles and elevation gains up to 1750m/5000feet of climbing, you will be adding extra challenges along the route like periods of hike-a-bike and the extra effort required by the whole body to safely dance with your bike over technical terrain. Generally, riders who are up for a Black Fitness ride, likely spend time on the bike a couple times each week.

Blue Square

Blue should be considered a good deal more effort than our Green Rides.  You should be able to handle 3 to 5 hours in the saddle covering up to 45km/30miles and be able to pull off a big day of 1000m/3000feet of elevation gain. Managing fuel is important as well.  You should have a good understanding how your body responds to multiple days on the bike. We will help with positive coaching, a manageable pace and plenty of trailside snacks.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black will be for those with the strength and endurance to get to the top of anything they want and understand the term “turning the screw”. Distance could be quite high on some routes and elevation gain numbers could hit 2000m/6000 feet+ in a day. You are likely riding multiple days a week during the dry periods and have a trainer or belong to a gym for the rest of the year.

Green Circle

You should be ready to spend 2-4 hours per day on the bike. Mileage may be up to 30km/20 miles and elevation gain will be under 500m/1500feet. On e-MTB tours, numbers will be higher, however the approximate effort would be considered similar to a standard Green Circle ride. If you get on your bike once a week, you will be just fine. However, when preparing for a Ride, you will benefit from more rides and time in the saddle.