Rainbow Mountain Tours & Tickets

Rainbow Mountain's vivid stripes were hidden beneath snow and ice until around 2010, when melting glaciers exposed the mineral-rich slopes to the world.

The mountain's colors come from oxidized minerals—iron creates reds and yellows, copper produces greens and blues, and sulfur adds pale hues—creating a natural geological rainbow.

At 5,100 meters (16,732 feet) above sea level, Rainbow Mountain sits in the Peruvian Andes near Cusco, making altitude sickness a real concern for most visitors.

The trek to Rainbow Mountain was virtually unknown to tourists before 2015; it has since become one of Peru's most Instagram-famous landmarks.

Local Quechua communities near the mountain have lived in the high-altitude region for centuries and still practice traditional herding and farming.

The hike typically passes through multiple ecological zones, from high-altitude grasslands to zones where hardy alpine plants are among the few living things.