Hiking to the Nicholson Volcano

Arequipa is located in a volcanic zone, in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Here, is possible to do a hiking to the Nicholson volcano, located in Yura, close to the Arequipa city.

The Nicholson volcano is located at 2,533 meters above sea level, at 133 meters from the base, it is easily accessible through a light walk of approx. 1.5 to 2 hours (from km 8 of the Yura – Huanca highway) and you could descend to the crater since it is an inactive volcano.
It is at 35 km from Arequipa to the starting point of the trek (on the Yura – Huanca highway, 6 km from the town of La Calera).

Pick up from the hotel at 7 AM and departure to Yura, where is located the Nicholson volcano.

Few people know of the existence of a fourth volcano, the one formerly called Cerro Negro and later baptized as Volcán Nicholson, in honor of the scientist who studied it.

It is a volcano with the same characteristics as the existing volcanoes in the valley of the Andagua volcanoes, this volcanoes have been formed by a single eruption, millions of years ago. It has the typical shape of a volcano, an almost circular elevation with a very visible crater in the center.

It is very close to the city, therefore it is quite accessible on foot from the village of Yura, to the northwest of the city.

To get to the volcano we use the public or private transport that leaves from the old railway station towards Yura, it is a trip of approximately 55 minutes by car. From that place the hiking begins.

The first thing we do is to go down to a small valley, close to the Yura River, along the left bank of the river, passing through farmland and reaching the bottom where we find only wild vegetation and a large cloud of mosquitoes.

We crossed the river getting into the water  reaching the other bank we began the ascent on the right bank.

This ascent is quite steep but quickly takes us into the desert.  After about four kilometers through relatively flat and desertic terrain we arrive at the foot of the volcano, from where we begin the ascent towards the summit.

Upon reaching the summit we can see the crater in all its magnitude, we can take a walk around it and those who are more physical they have can descend to the bottom of it.

From the summit of the volcano the landscape is impressive, to the southeast we can see the Chachani and in the distance the Misti and the Pichupichu, to the north we see rock formations that show us very interesting geological layers and to the west we see the desert that extends in the direction of the sea.

After spending a moment on the summit, we begin the descent that takes us along the same path to the valley.

Arrive to the place where the car is waiting for us and return to Arequipa city at 4PM.

• Transport
• English speaking guide
• Snacks

No details found.