Peru: Chimbote > Huaraz > Routes 106 & 107
May 2026 |
Sharing info on 4 rides from Chimbote to Huaraz and the Cordillera Blanca, including the amazing 107 and 106 roads. Read more about what I did, and what I missed.
Chimbote > Huaraz
After a longer-than-planned stay in Chimbote (but a nice recharge), I headed back into the mountains from the coast. I considered taking the 104, but decided I wasn't in the mood for an extended unpaved odyssey. I took the 14, the paved highway.
The 14 delivers the usual stunning Peru coast-to-Andes ride with amazing landscapes ranging from desert to glaciers. The last section into Huaraz was impressive, with views of epic glacier-covered mountains right in front of you. It's like the Canadian Rockies around Banff or Jasper, better in many ways.
I stayed 2 nights in Huaraz. My hotel was empty, except for one other room: a couple that management put next to me, for some odd reason. They seemed to be celebrating their honeymoon, with a full day of "action" across the thin wall.
Huaraz was just ok; I was a 30-min walk to downtown. The views are great. It's a tourist center and staging point for many outdoor activities.
Ride: 205 km / 5 hr
Road: Paved, good
Huaraz > Carhauz
North of Huaraz, Carhuaz and Yungay are where many adv riders base themselves for the 106, 107, Canyon de Pato, and nearby rides. I stayed in Carhuaz, 90 minutes north of Huaraz. The ride is stunning, along the Cordillera Blanca, with epic peaks the whole way, including Huascaran. Carhuaz is a nice small town with some decent local places to eat. I stayed 3 nights at Casa Talios, a nice homestay managed by the lovely lady who cooked me a great breakfast every day, I highly recommend it.
Planning the 107 and 106 rides
In Caurhauz, I researched and planned my 107 and 106 rides. Some people do a loop around both roads. I read that road closures may be happening in bad sections of road. Mad or Nomad, a site I had never paid too much attention to, has some really good info on this area, including a recommendation not to ride the complete loop, but rather, to do day trips halfway up the 107 and 106 roads. And that's what I did.
Route 107
First up: this is one of the best roads I have ever ridden and probably will ever ride. The scenery is stunning, and the road is top quality.
Not far out of Carhuaz, you start the initial rise into Huascarán National Park. The views of Huascarán and its neighbor on the right are stunning. It's the highest mountain in Peru, and in the tropics worldwide. I grew up at the foot of the Rockies in BC, but this is just a whole different level.
Once in the park, you ride up a valley that climbs a switchback road with amazing views in every direction. At the top, you ride through the Punta Olymopica tunnel at 4700 m, then down to a lake on the other side. I rode just past the lake, then headed back.
This whole ride is a great place to put an Insta360 into action, with amazing visuals all around. I am usually not keen to backtrack, but the ride back was equally stunning. I finished the day back to my homestay in Carhuaz. It took me about 4 hours, with many stops for photos.
Ride: 70 km / 4 hrs
Road: Paved, good
YouTube: I made a short video of the 107 ride
Route 106
I screwed up on this ride; I learned later I didn't ride far enough up the road. As with the 107, I decided to do this as a day trip, ride up and back. After the incredible ride on the 107 the day before, it was hard to believe the 106 could possibly be better, but hey, this is the Cordillera Blanca.
I set out from my guesthouse in Carhuaz and rode north to Yungay. There, Google Maps started going insane, giving me 2 routes on the 106, frustratingly rerouting me to turn back to the other suggested route. I ended up taking the "lesser travelled" route (I guess), to the north. And it was pretty bad. After 30 mins of washboard, I reached the main route, and then proceeded up on the main 106 road. None of this is paved, unlike the 107.
Side note: at the park entrance, I bought a first-ever bag of cocoa leaves and some cocoa lozenges. Gotta say, they worked their magic!
I rode on to the lakes, to the end of the second one. From there, the road started downhill. I couldn't see anything overly exciting ahead, so I turned back (as I had done the day before). This was a major error: I later learned the must-do section of the 106 is further up the road.
The scenery I saw of the 106 was good, but not at the same level as the 107 the day before. One day I will go back and ride the entire route and see what I missed.
This ride took me 4 hours. On the way down, I took the main road. As happens often in Peru, I got chased by a pack of dogs, and for the first time I got seriously bitten (by a German Shepard, no less); luckily, I was wearing my heavy Klim riding pants and the teeth didn't penetrate them, but I did have a painful and obvious bite mark on my calf for the next week.
I stayed one more night in Carhuaz and then headed south the next day.
Ride: ~50 km / 4 hrs
Road: Unpaved, ok
Things I missed
Had I researched a bit more, I would have done this segment a bit differently:
Canyon de Pato: because I rode to Chimbote on the coast, I missed the canyon, which would have required the ride south from Cabana to Yungay/Carhuaz/Huaraz
106: as mentioned earlier, I didn't ride far enough to see the main attraction of the 106
Mirador Laguna Paron: north of the 106 is another stunning ride and sights I totally missed in my planning
Questions or comments? Drop me an email; I'm happy to assist or gather info.
Map
Here's my north Peru ride, before I took a break from riding. Click the little "window" icon at top left for more info on place names.
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