The Inca Trail rules and regulations come from one official rulebook: the Reglamento de Uso Turístico Sostenible de la Red de Caminos Inka, approved by the Ministry of Culture in 2017 and amended in November 2025 and September 2026. In practice it means you walk only with a licensed agency and an official guide, on the date and route printed on your permit, and you sleep only in the campsite assigned to your group. You carry out every piece of rubbish. Drones, glass, alcohol, fires and metal-tipped poles without rubber caps are not allowed, and the trail closes every February.
This page covers the rules on the trail itself. To buy a permit, see Inca Trail permits 2027 and availability, which explains the daily limit, the September 2026 sales rules and how to book.
On this page
- Who may hike the Inca Trail
- Routes, daily limits and hours
- Campsites
- What you can’t bring
- Plastic and rubbish
- Drones and filming
- Conduct on the trail and at the ruins
- Porter weight limits and welfare
- Age rules and children
- February closure and other closures
- Official sources
Who may hike the Inca Trail
- Organized groups only. The regulation bans independent trekkers. Every group is run by a travel agency with a tourism contract from SERNANP, Peru’s protected-areas service.
- An official guide with every group. The agency names an official tour guide who is registered on SERNANP’s list and is responsible for the group following the rules. A guide may not leave the group.
- Group size is set by law. A group runs from 4 to 42 people in total, trekkers, guides and support staff together. The table in the regulation goes up to 16 trekkers, with up to 24 porters and cooks and 2 guides. Our groups average 8 trekkers and never exceed 16.
- Original ID at every control post. Trekkers, guides and porters show their original identity documents and register at the culture office and SERNANP posts whenever asked. Anyone who can’t is turned back.
- No swapping between groups. Once groups enter the trail they can’t be merged, and trekkers can’t move from one group to another.
- Porters and cooks are registered too. Support staff must be on SERNANP’s official list, renewed every two years, and they need training in heritage, conservation and visitor services to be on it.
Routes, daily limits and hours
The regulation lists six authorized routes inside the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary. Routes 1 to 4 have a limit of 500 people a day, staff included; route 5, the 2-day trek from Km 104, allows 250 a day; route 6 allows 100.
| Route | Itinerary in the regulation | Stay allowed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Piscacucho (Km 82), Wayllabamba, Wiñay Wayna, Machu Picchu | 4 days, 3 nights |
| 2 | Qoriwayrachina (Km 88), Wayllabamba, Wiñay Wayna, Machu Picchu | 4 days, 3 nights |
| 3 | Soraypampa, Salkantaypampa, Inkachiriaska, Pampacahuana, Paukarkancha, Wayllabamba, Wiñay Wayna, Machu Picchu | Multi-day |
| 4 | Piscacucho (Km 82), Pacaymayo Bajo, Chachabamba (Km 104), Wiñay Wayna, Machu Picchu | 4 days, 3 nights |
| 5 | Chachabamba (Km 104), Wiñay Wayna, Machu Picchu | Direct access |
| 6 | Paukarkancha, Wayllabamba, Qoriwayrachina (Km 88) | Direct access |
- Entry hours: groups enter between 5:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
- No walking at night: moving along the trail between 6:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. is prohibited, for safety and for the trail’s sake.
- Only your route and your dates: you can’t stay longer than your ticket allows or leave your route, except in proven emergencies. Walking along the railway track is also prohibited.
- One visit to Machu Picchu: your Inca Trail ticket includes one entry to the citadel within your route’s period, at most five working days, and it can’t be extended. In 2026 Inca Trail tickets are tied to circuit 3-B; see our Machu Picchu circuits guide.
Campsites
You may camp only in the campsite assigned to your group, and camping or spending the night anywhere else is prohibited unless a ranger decides there is an emergency. The DDC Cusco assigns each group its campsites, and they are written on the group’s entry form. On route 1 the regulation allows three combinations:
| Option | Night 1 | Night 2 | Night 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Wayllabamba | Pacaymayo Alto | Wiñay Wayna |
| B | Wayllabamba | Pacaymayo Alto | Phuyupatamarca |
| C | Ayapata | Chaquiccocha | Wiñay Wayna |
Campsite facilities, toilets and showers are covered in our Inca Trail camping guide, and the day-by-day route in the Inca Trail itinerary.
What you can’t bring
Article 27 of the regulation lists the items that may not enter the trail:
- Firearms and air guns, bows and arrows, hunting and fishing gear, axes, machetes, knives with a blade longer than 7 cm, picks, shovels and other tools.
- Traps of any kind for catching or collecting animals or plants.
- Fossil fuels such as petrol, diesel or gasoline.
- Alcoholic drinks, stimulants and drugs not allowed under Peruvian law.
- Drinks and products in glass containers.
- Sound systems and other sources of noise, musical instruments included.
- Pets and other domestic or exotic animals.
- Trekking poles with a metal tip and no rubber cap, and walking sticks cut from native trees.
- Bicycles, tricycles and other vehicles.
- Drones and other small aircraft, and professional filming equipment for commercial use without authorization.
Trekking poles are welcome as long as the metal tips are covered with rubber caps; we rent poles for US$30 a pair if you would rather not fly with yours. For what to pack instead, see the Inca Trail packing list.
Plastic and rubbish
Two sets of rules apply. Peru’s single-use plastics law (Law 30884, whose ban in these places has applied since 2019) prohibits plastic bags, plastic straws and polystyrene food and drink containers in protected natural areas and in places declared cultural or natural heritage of humanity. The Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary is both. Bring a refillable bottle or hydration bladder, and reusable bags and food boxes.
The trail regulation then makes the agency responsible for every piece of rubbish its group produces. Waste is sorted into colored bags: red for metal, paper, cardboard and cartons, white for plastic, black for toilet paper and biodegradable bags, and green for organic waste. The bags are declared on the group’s entry form, recorded at SERNANP’s control posts, and carried out of the sanctuary by the agency, with a final check of the black bags at Choquesuysuy (Km 106.5). The regulation’s good-practice annex also asks for rechargeable batteries, refillable gas canisters, canteens and biodegradable soap. Our own policy is zero waste to landfill on the trek: all rubbish is carried out.
Drones and filming
Flying a drone, or any other use of the airspace over the trail, needs prior authorization from both the DDC Cusco and SERNANP, and drones are on the list of items that may not enter the trail. In practice, leave the drone in Cusco. Professional filming for commercial purposes also needs authorization. Phones and ordinary cameras are fine; our Machu Picchu photography guide covers the citadel’s own rules.
Conduct on the trail and at the ruins
Article 26 prohibits the following, and both SERNANP rangers and culture office staff can stop you and report it:
- Lighting fires on the trail, at the archaeological sites or in the land around them.
- Climbing on Inca walls, marking floors or scratching stones, and any graffiti.
- Eating inside the archaeological monuments. Eat at the campsites and rest areas.
- Disturbing or harming wild plants and animals.
- Altering or polluting the landscape or the monuments.
- Walking or working drunk or under the influence of drugs.
- Putting up political or commercial signs, and any obscene behavior.
- Motor vehicles of any kind.
The regulation also asks every user to use the toilets, washbasins and campsites properly, keep noise down and report damage to the rangers. Our guide to the archaeological sites explains what you will walk through.
Porter weight limits and welfare
Porters on the Inca Trail are protected by Peru’s porter law, Law 31614 of 2022, which replaced the earlier Law 27607. Its key rules:
- Load limit: 20 kg for men and 15 kg for women, supervised by the labor inspection authority.
- Minimum age: 18. Hiring anyone younger as a porter is prohibited.
- Working week: capped at 48 hours.
- Minimum pay: 3% of Peru’s tax unit (the UIT) for each day worked, and 30% more for a porter who works as the cook.
- What the employer provides: food, suitable clothing, protective equipment including a lumbar belt, sun protection, sleeping gear, and work-risk and life insurance.
- Free entry: the Ministry of Culture lets porters onto the trail free of charge.
- Later amendment: Law 32137 changed porters’ employment status and rest rules; the load and age limits above did not change.
The number of porters per group is also capped by the regulation’s ratio table, from 2 to 7 for a single trekker up to 17 to 24 for a group of 16. On our treks no porter carries more than the legal limit, and never more than 20 kg. If you are planning tips, read our porter etiquette and tipping guide.
Age rules and children
The regulation sets no minimum or maximum age for trekkers. What it does require is that every minor is listed by name on the group’s registration form: a child who is not on the form is turned away. Children do walk the trail; the first groups after the September 2026 reopening included three foreign children. Each child needs a permit in their own name and passport. The real limit is fitness: the 4-day route crosses Dead Woman’s Pass at 4,215 m, so read our fitness guide and the Inca Trail difficulty guide before booking a child, and consider the 2-day route. The only legal age limit on the trail applies to porters, who must be 18 or older.
February closure and other closures
The whole Inca Trail network closes every February so its ecosystems can recover and the trail and its facilities can be maintained. In 2026 it reopened on 1 March after that work. The regulation also lets SERNANP and the DDC Cusco close or restrict any route when conditions put visitors at risk, with an official notice. That happened on 18 August 2026, when heavy rain caused landslides along the trail. The ministry stopped new entries and turned back the groups that had just started, and the trail reopened in early September (see our report on the reopening). In such cases the ministry handles new dates or refunds of the entry fee.
The citadel at the end of the trail has its own rules and daily capacity: 5,600 visitors a day in high season and 4,500 in low season, according to the ministry in September 2026. Our Machu Picchu ticket guide covers them.
Planning the trek? Start with our Inca Trail guide, or email info@incatrailreservations.com with any question about the rules.
Official sources
We checked every rule on this page against these sources on 8 October 2026.
- Reglamento de Uso Turístico Sostenible de la Red de Caminos Inka, full text with annexes, approved by Ministerial Resolution 069-2017-MC (Spanish).
- Ministerial Resolution 000294-2025-MC, daily limits per route, 7 November 2025 (Spanish).
- Ministerial Resolution 000333-2026-MC, ticket sales amendment, 11 September 2026 (Spanish).
- Law 31614, New Porter Worker Law, Congress of Peru (Spanish).
- Law 30884, single-use plastics law, El Peruano, 19 December 2018 (Spanish).
- Ministry of Culture, August 2026 suspension and September 2026 reopening (Spanish).
- Ministry of Culture, 22 September 2026 notice with the Machu Picchu capacity figures (Spanish).