--- description: The ancient trail to Machu Picchu crosses some of the world's most dramatic terrain title: Hiking the Inca Trail image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) # Hiking the Inca Trail by [TIME](/author/time/) Oct 24, 2011 4:00 AM CUT by [TIME](/author/time/) Oct 24, 2011 4:00 AM CUT The ancient trail to Machu Picchu crosses some of the world’s most dramatic terrain ### Trail Head  The Inca Trail consists of three overlapping trails, all of which lead to Machu Picchu. Here, one of them begins at the Urubamba River. Ozimages / Alamy ### Switchback  Part of the trail zigzags up a steep ridge in the region called Sacred Valley. John Warburton-Lee / Corbis ### Terraces  A hiker navigates the trail to the Pisac ruins over the Urubamba Valley. Bob Krist / Corbis ### Sacred Site  Many believe that the Incas blazed the trail as a holy pilgrimage to prepare visitors for the entrance to Machu Picchu. Andrew Kemmis / Alamy ### Detail  A wall at Machu Picchu. Dan O'Flynn / Alamy ### Misty  The trail reaches over 2 miles (3.2 km) above sea level at its highest. Andrew Crowhurst / Alamy ### Shelter  Handmade handkerchiefs and bags hang in a gazebo on the Inca Trail. Aurora Photos / Alamy ### Upward  Concern that overuse of the trail will lead to erosion has led the Peruvian government to place a limit on the number of people who may hike it each season. Currently access is limited to a maximum of 500 people per day, including guides and porters. JenFu Cheng / Alamy ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7053779/hiking-the-inca-trail/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7053779/hiking-the-inca-trail/"},"headline":"Hiking the Inca Trail","datePublished":"2011-10-24T04:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T10:45:22.697Z","description":"The ancient trail to Machu Picchu crosses some of the world's most dramatic terrain","url":"https://time.com/archive/7053779/hiking-the-inca-trail/","keywords":["LightBox"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME","url":"https://time.com/author/time/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7053779/hiking-the-inca-trail/","name":"Hiking the Inca Trail"}}]}] ```