The Best Motorcycle Routes in Peru

Peru offers some of the best adventure bike rides in the world. After over three months and 10,000kms exploring the country, we’ve selected our absolute favourites. Here’s the best motorcycle rides through Peru…

This motorcycle route guide is based on our ride through Peru during our round the world trip. The guides on this website are constantly updated with info from contributors to keep them current, up-to-date and as helpful as possible for you.

Peru’s Best Motorcycle Routes

By Andy Davidson

Mad or Nomad: Round the World Motorcycle Traveller

Peru is an incredible country and perfect for adventure bike riders and motorcycle travellers. There are endless tracks, trails and routes and some of the best riding in the world winds its way through the Peruvian Andes. We know you’re going to love it.

Below you’ll find a selection of our top routes and rides with downloadable maps and extra things to do in the country. If you’re heading that way, we recommend having a read of our dedicated motorcycle travel guide for Peru as it lists all the info you’ll need to ride there and our Peru blog to see what these routes were like for us.

We hope you enjoy riding these awesome routes.

The 100 from Pallasca to Chuquicara, Ancash

The 100 is a beautiful off-road stretch in the Ancash region of Peru. The route starts in Pallasca and ends in Chuquicara. The ride is easy going gravel and not challenging. It leads up into a canyon and follows a pretty river through red and purple mountains. There are some high and narrow cliffs so watch out for cars and trucks coming in the other direction.

You’ll find plenty of accommodation options in Pallasca, and there’s only really one or two in Chuquicara. We’ve pinpointed the hotel on the map.

The 120

The 120 is one of our favourite rides in Peru. It’s a long one but can easily be done in a single day from the start and end points on our map. It’s all gravel and easy to ride with a couple of downward hairpins halfway through. It’s a very pretty ride so you’ll want to start relatively early so you have plenty of time to take it all in and not rush.

Canon de Uchco

Following on from the 120, if your route heads north, we recommend taking this road to ride the Canon de Uchco. This ride is relatively good condition asphalt the whole way up. The actual canyon section is very short (you’ll ride it in less than a minute), so if you are going south you can quickly ride this bit and then swing back around.

However, for anyone going north we recommend taking this route shown on our map.

Pastoruri Glacier

This is a top ride and shouldn’t be missed. The route is gravel, but can be muddy when wet. It’s stunning so leave plenty of time for it. Halfway along the route is the Pastoruri Glacier, which you can park up and walk to (about one hour). Even if you’re not fussed with seeing the glacier, make sure you do the ride.

The off-road section is only between the two yellow markers on the map along the AN 1251. At the end of the off-road section you’ll turn onto a well paved and asphalted 3N. We recommend taking this all the way south to the hotel we pinned and not continuing to the main 3N. From the start of the yellow pin to the hotel at the bottom can be done easily in one day (if it’s not raining).

Huascaran

This is one of Peru’s best highlights. Huascaran sur is Peru’s highest mountain and Huascaran National Park is an absolute must. The 106 road runs along the north side of Huascaran mountain and the 107 road runs along the south side.

You can ride both roads as they connect to the east via a loop, however, we don’t recommend this. The connecting part of the loop isn’t a great ride, fun or with any decent views and the terrain can be slippery.

Here’s what we recommend you do instead.

Huascaran 106 (off-road)

The 106 is a gravel off-road ride with tight switchbacks that takes you past beautiful bright blue lagoons and up into the mountains where you’ll get an incredible view of the lagoon and the mighty mountain itself. The gravel can be a little more challenging dependent on the weather, but it’s a well-traversed route and fine if you’re used to riding off-road.

We recommend staying at the hotel we’ve pinned in Yungay for a couple of nights. Take the luggage off your motorcycle and leave it in your room for a more fun ride. Head up the 106 to the last pin on our map. There’s no need to go further as you’ll then be heading down on the other side of the mountain. Take in the views and then ride back to your hotel. That way you’ll get to ride this awesome road twice (instead of once up and then a long boring ride to the 107).

Huascaran 107 (road)

The 107 is a road ride that takes you along the southern side of Huascaran. The next day, or whenever you’re ready to check out of your hotel inYungay, load up your luggage again and take the 3N down to the 107. Head up the 107 to the Punta Olimpica, which is one of the highest tunnels in the world. It actually held the title of the highest tunnel from 2013 to 2019 at 4,735m until the Hindutag Pass Tunnel in China took the lead at 4,929m.

Once you’re through the tunnel, keep riding until you see some bins and a mini car park on the road. Park up and you’ll see a trail leading up to a cabin. You can actually see the stone cabin and trail from the car park, so don’t worry about your stuff. If you can’t find it, use Maps.Me as the trail shows up on there. It’s about a 5 minute walk to the stone cabin, which has a beautiful view of a blue lagoon. It’s well worth the stop. You can continue on the 107 for as far as you like, but the road goes down and within another 10kms or so you will have passed the best of it.

Once you’re ready, swing back around and ride back the same way you came and then hook south once you reach the 3N again to Huaraz. This ride can be done in one day as the road conditions are excellent.

The difference between the 106 and 107

Before we rode these two roads, we asked friends which one to do as we didn’t think there was any point doing both. But we were wrong, they’re both incredibly different and beautiful in their own ways. Definitely do both.

Canon del Pato

The Canon del Pato (Duck Canyon) is a famous ride in Ancash, Peru. It’s a narrow canyon road with 35 hand carved tunnels through solid rock. The tunnels are one-lane and dark so it can be a little dicey. But it’s a very cool ride.

Note that if you type it into Google Maps it will take you to the wrong Canon del Pato. This is the link to the one you want on Google Maps.

3N Mollebamba to Pallasca

This section of the 3N is a supermoto’s dream. You’ve got miles of super twisty tarmac with gravel sections on most of the corners. The continuous switchbacks and hairpins drop down into a valley before flying back up the other side. It’s an incredible road to ride with stunning views.

116 and 115

There’s not a lot to report on this route – apart from it’s a fun little detour if you’re in this part of Peru. Take the 115, 116 and 117, it’s a lot better than the 3N.

Ecuador to Peru border crossing: to Cajamarca

This is the route we recommend taking to get from Ecuador to Peru. The Ecuador section follows a stunning off-road route to a quiet and remote border. If it’s been raining heavily then expect slippery mud. Once you’re on the Peruvian side it’s tarmac to San Ignacio. We then recommend taking this route below all the way to Cajamarca. It’s a brilliant little route through the mountains with plenty of fun off-road riding and a far better introduction to Peru than the western border entries.

Searching for Peruvian Smurf Houses

Peru Smurf Houses Pampachiri Stone Forest Guide

The Smurf Houses of the Pampachiri Stone Forests in Peru are little known and little explored. But they’re fascinating and the ride to and from the houses is fun, off-road, gravel and with a couple of little river crossings.

We have a dedicated guide explaining everything you need to know about visiting the Smurf Houses.

READ MORE: The Peru Smurf House Guide

More things to do for motorcycle travellers in Peru

Here’s some of our recommendations of tings to do in Peru. You’ll find links to our dedicated guides below.

Machu Picchu – A lot of motorcycle travellers are put off visiting Machu Picchu because everywhere online says you need to buy tickets in advance – and that’s exceptionally difficult if you’re riding a bike and on the road because you don’t know where you’ll be. But it’s not the case. Our guide explains what you need to know and how to get tickets on the day: Machu Picchu Guide.

Uros islands – If you’re heading south – especially to Bolivia – it’s worth stopping off to visit the Uros people and their floating islands. This guide explains what you need to know: Uros Islands Guide.

Rainbow Mountain – The Rainbow Mountain is a big tourist draw. But if you’re on a motorcycle, forget taking the bus with all the other tourists from Cusco. Here’s how to get there on your own: Rainbow Mountain Guide.

Read more on motorcycle travel in Peru

Thanks for checking out the Best Motorcycle Routes in Peru Guide. We hope you enjoyed it! Here’s a few more articles on motorcycle travel in Peru and South America that we recommend you read next.

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