Inca Trail Weather “the best time to go”
The Classic Inca Trail is located in the Andes mountain range, the trail goes through several types of Andean environments including cloud forest, semi-tropical valleys, and alpine tundra, all these environment types make the Inca Trail Trek’s weather very diverse.
- During the day. April to October, the weather is sunny ranging from 12oC/ 53F to 28oC/ 82F average 17oC/ 62F, at the high passes or high points it’s windy with some drizzle sometimes. However, the weather is totally unpredictable in the mountains of the Andes, we may get, rain, wind. From November to March is the rainy season, so the rain is expected during the hike. We need to be prepared for this to avoid some weather hassle bringing proper types of equipment (see the checklist page), like down jackets, merino thermal shirt, pants, fleece, hardshell or gore-tex jackets, merino socks, gore-tex hiking boots, gloves, buff, bandana, sunglasses, hiking trousers.
- During the night. The temperature gets until 1oC/ 33F on the second night, the other nights the campsites are at semitropical places, sometimes, it can rain, hail with strong winds as we are very close to the high mountains, especially the first night and second night. Please your sleeping bags should be -10oC/ 14F goose down type, and please bring sleeping bag LINER for each person, and merino thermal shirt, pants, socks are very indispensable for this kind of night temperature.
Best Time to Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu:
- The best time to hike this trail is from May through October when days are mostly with blu skies and starry nights.
- November, December, January, March, and April can be hiked, but rainfall and some hails are expected, for sure. If coming this time of the year, make sure to come with proper rain gear.
Note on weather in Inca Trail
The weather is very changeable in the mountains, especially in the shoulder seasons and wet season, it could be sunny during the days, with cold nights and clear sky, and sometimes it could be foggy, rainy, and even snowy (rarely happens) or mixed. Please be prepared for this kind of weather event, have a look at your checklist at the checklist section or talk to your Peru Summit Adventures trek specialist.
