3 Best Sights in The North Coast and Northern Highlands, Peru

Surprisingly, Gocta, a 771-meter (2,529-foot) waterfall, believed to be the fourth tallest in South America, wasn't brought to the attention of the Peruvian government until 2006. The falls, about 50 km (31 miles) outside town, are strongest during the rainy season, from November to April, though during the dry season, the sun will likely be out, and you will be able to swim at their base. Occasionally, on the 2½-hour hike from Cocachimba (you can hire guides there if you are not coming on a tour from Chachapoyas), you may be able to spot toucans or the endemic yellow-tailed woolly monkey. The best way to appreciate the falls is by staying at the charming, 16-room Gocta Lodge, especially if you prefer the light of the morning or afternoon.

Make sure your camera memory card is empty when you go to see these spectacular glaciers, gorges, lakes, and mountains. Driving through a giant gorge formed millions of years ago by a retreating glacier, you arrive at Lagunas de Llanganuco. The crystalline waters shine a luminescent turquoise in the sunlight; in the shade they're a forbidding inky black. Waterfalls of glacial melt snake their way down the gorge's flanks, falling lightly into the lake. There are many quenual trees (also known as the paper-bark tree) surrounding the lakes. Up above, you'll see treeless alpine meadows and the hanging glaciers of the surrounding mountains. At the lower lake, called Lago Chinancocha, you can hire a rowboat (S/5 per person) to take you to the center. A few trailside signs teach you about local flora and fauna. The easiest way to get here is with an arranged tour from Huaraz (about S/40 plus entrance fee), though if you are going on the Santa Cruz trek you will probably start here. The tours stop here and at many other spots on the Callejón de Huaylas, finishing in Caraz.