Rainbow Mountain is a bucket list destination for many people visiting Peru. Red Valley is an additional beautiful and scenic spot that’s easily accessible from Rainbow Mountain. It is an optional stop to take on your tour.

It’s known for its striking red rocks that seem to appear even more vibrant in color than Rainbow Mountain. However, there is an extra fee attached to see this incredible view.

If you’re debating whether or not to pay for a visit to Red Valley, I hope you can find some clarity in this post. Let’s dive in.

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Rainbow Mountain vs. Red Valley

Rainbow Mountain and Red Valley are two sides of the same coin, offering different perspectives of the same stunning landscape.

I’m sure you all are already familiar with Rainbow Mountain. It’s one of Peru’s top landmarks and a popular day trip from Cusco.

To get there it’ll require a 1.5 hour bus ride and a 4 mile (6.5 meters) round trip hike. There’s about 1,000 feet (305 meters) of total elevation gain, so it is a tough climb. Especially since you start over 16,000 feet (4900 meters).

The most common way for visitors to experience Rainbow Mountain is by booking a tour. We booked this tour online, but you can find tour companies all over Cusco offering guided hikes to Rainbow Mountain.

Tours typically run for 80 soles or $23 USD per person. 

Most of these tours will include an option to visit Red Valley too after the hike to Rainbow Mountain. It will say in the description when you book.

About Red Valley

Red Valley describes an area a little over a half mile (800 meters) hike away deeper into the mountains behind the famous Rainbow Mountain.

To get there, all you have to do is take the trail from the viewpoint across the mountain landscape and over the red ridge shown below. 

This part would also be led by your tour guide. You will not be able to hike up there on your own.

How Much Does Red Valley Cost?

Admission to Red Valley is 30 soles ($9 USD) per person.

This is on top of the 80 soles you pay for the tour AND the 30 soles you have to pay onsite for tickets to hike to Rainbow Mountain. These tickets are not usually included in the price of your tour. 

So if you want to visit Red Valley as well as Rainbow Mountain you’re looking at a total of 140 soles or $41 USD per person for the entire tour.

It’s an additional fee because Red Valley is part of a different local community than Rainbow Mountain is. So even though they may seem right next to each other, they are managed by different groups of people.

What to Expect on the Hike

After you’ve visited Rainbow Mountain and had a good long while to take photos and enjoy the view, your guide will rally your tour group together and talk a little bit about Red Valley and ask who’s interested in going.

They will take everyone who wants to go up the trail to Red Valley and anyone who doesn’t want to go will hike back down on their own the way you came up.

Everyone in our group wanted to go so he led our entire tour group up to Red Valley. It takes less than 10 minutes to get there.

There is only a moderate incline towards the end as you hike up to go above the ridgeline. Then you will come upon a stone doorway (you probably saw it from the trail below on your way up to Rainbow Mountain). This is where you pay your admission fee. 

Once you pay and go through the doorway, it will open up to an incredible view that can only best be described as a red valley.

Red Valley Viewpoint

From this point you’ll hike down about a quarter mile (400 meters) to another viewpoint of the surrounding mountains. This is the main viewpoint of Red Valley. The trail to get there is pretty flat and easy. Nothing compared to the switchbacks you faced leading up to Rainbow Mountain.

At this point the guides will sit back and let you snap photos and take in the views. The trail continues on through the valley past this viewpoint, but the guides do not take hikers up that way. It seems like that area is blocked off to hikers and reserved for the ATV tours.

I think we were just expecting the trail to be longer through Red Valley. We all only had about 10 minutes at the main viewpoint before we had to turn around and hike back. So you’re paying to basically walk out to an overlook and back.

Is it Worth the Extra Money?

How likely is it that you’ll find yourself at Rainbow Mountain again in your life? Like many of us the chances are slim to none. If you don’t hike up to see Red Valley, you may regret it.

Even though it will cost extra, while you’re there you should check it out. After all, it’s only another $10 USD.

However, I’ll be honest and say my partner and I were a tad disappointed with our experience. I think we just had the expectation to hike a little further through the valley than we did. Of course the views were still spectacular, but I’m not sure if it was worth using our cash for.

While we were in Peru we didn’t like taking out too much cash (due to the foreign exchange fees) and preferred to pay with card when we could. So we felt like an extra 60 soles for us both was a good amount of our cash.

If you have extra cash to spend and want to see more views on your hike then I’d say go for it. But if you’re traveling Peru on an absolute shoestring budget, maybe consider skipping.

Can You See the Red Mountains for Free?

Technically, you can see the same striking red mountains that are a part of Red Valley for free. Just not the entirety of the valley itself.

From the Rainbow Mountain viewpoint, if you hike all the way up to the “Montana Vinikunka” sign, you can actually see most of the red mountains in the distance.

Of course, the views hiking that short stretch through Red Valley are much better and you get to see the mountains more up close.

If you want to experience the most of Red Valley, I’d recommend looking into an ATV tour. It’s a little more expensive than hiking, but it seems like you get to spend more time and get to see more of the valley than if you were to hike. 

I hope you got some useful information from this post and it helped you decide whether or not to spend the extra soles and visit Red Valley on your trip to Rainbow Mountain. Thank you so much for reading!