Inca Trail Information

Introduction

The Inca road system was the most extensive and highly advanced transportation system in pre-Columbian South America. The network was based on two north-south roads, with numerous branches.

The eastern route ran high in the puna and mountain valleys from Quito, Ecuador to Mendoza, Argentina. The western route followed the coastal plain except in coastal deserts where it hugged the foothills. More than twenty routes ran over the western mountains, while others traversed the eastern cordillera in the mountains and lowlands. Some of these roads reach heights of over 5,000 meters (16,000 ft) above sea level. The trails connected the regions of the Inca Empire from the northern provincial capital in Quito, Ecuador past the modern city of Santiago, Chile in the south. The Inca road system linked together about 40,000 kilometers (25,000 mi) of roadway and provided access to over 3,000,000 square kilometers (1,200,000 sq mi) of territory.

Situated between 500 to 800 meters (1,600 to 2,600 ft) above sea level, this monumental road, which could reach 20 meters (66 ft) in width, connected populated areas, administrative centers, agricultural and mining zones as well as ceremonial centers and sacred spaces.

These roads provided easy, reliable and quick routes for the Empire's civilian and military communications, personnel movement, and logistical support. The prime users were imperial soldiers, porters and llama caravans, along with the nobility and individuals on official duty. Permission was required before others could walk along the roads, and tolls were charged at some bridges. Although the Inca roads varied greatly in scale, construction and appearance, for the most part they varied between about 1 to 4 meters (3.3 to 13 ft) in width.
Much of the system was the result of the Incas claiming exclusive right over numerous traditional routes, some of which had been built centuries earlier. Many new sections were built or upgraded substantially: through Chile's Atacama desert, and along the western margin of Lake Titicaca, serve as two examples.
The Qhapaq Ñan (English: Great Inca Road, or Main Andean Road, and meaning "the beautiful road") constituted the principal north-south highway of the Inca Empire traveling 6,000 kilometres (3,700 mi) along the spine of the Andes.

The Qhapaq Ñan unified this immense and heterogeneous empire through a well-organized political system of power. It allowed the Inca to control his Empire and to send troops as needed from the capital, Cusco.
The most important Inca road was the Camino Real, as it is known in Spanish, with a length of 5,200 kilometers (3,200 mi)). It began in Quito, Ecuador, passed through Cusco, and ended in what is now Tucumán, Argentina. The Camino Real traversed the mountain ranges of the Andes, with peak altitudes of more than 5,000 m (16,000 ft). El Camino de la Costa, the coastal trail, with a length of 4,000 kilometers (2,500 mi), ran parallel to the sea and was linked with the Camino Real by many smaller routes.

The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

The Lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, with no doubt the symbol of the Inca civilization. The royal path that carried pilgrims and authorized officers of the empire to the sacred city was "The Inca Trail" as we know it now.
The way along this Andean path is a fascinating and unforgettable experience. The Inca Trail is paved with blocks of stone and has stone stairways, tunnels and wooden bridges and paths across rivers, streams, beautiful valleys, warm cloud forests and cold highlands. All this vision makes the visitor meditate about the intellectual and grandeur of the Andean man whose highest achievement was the Inca civilization.
The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is part of an Inca roads system of more than 30,000 kilometers that integrated the vast empire of Tahuantinsuyo from southern Colombia to central Chile passing through the cities of Quito, Ecuador; Cajamarca, Huanuco, Jauja, Huamanga, and Cusco in Peru; La Paz and Cochabamba in Bolivia; Salta and Tucuman in Argentina. There roads ran mainly along the coast and mountain regions and in some cases they also reached the tropical mountains in the Amazon forest as is he case with the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.