Rainbow Mountain | Cusco | Peru

The Mountain of Seven Colors, is located in the Andes in the Cusco. In order to get to the trailhead, it’s a 3 hour drive from Cusco. To get to the lookout, you’ll need to hike about 6 miles. The trip is fairly challenging, so it’s not recommended for beginner hikers. But what makes the rainbow mountain turn so many different colors?. The mountain sides look like they were painted in yellows, greens, reds and purples, but they look a little more natural in person. The reason why these colors have formed is because of ice that used to cover the area. When it started to melt, the water mixed with minerals in the ground, turning the earth into the many colors. Red areas are due to rust mixtures, yellows are due to iron sulphide, purples are from goethite or oxidized limonite, and the greens come from chlorite.

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