This town was swallowed by a mountain. Now it’s become a door to adventure in the Andes

By Rochelle Beighton, CNN

(CNN) — Chances are, if you’re planning to hike the Andes in Peru, your journey will take you to Huaraz. The capital of the Ancash region in northern Peru, Huaraz is known as the gateway to the Cordillera Blanca mountain range and is often dubbed the “Switzerland of Peru.”

This high-altitude city has become the go-to base for trekkers heading into Huascarán National Park to attempt some of this UNESCO World Heritage site’s 50 recognized trails. But in staying here, what you might miss as you stock up on snacks and adjust to the altitude is the nearby town of Yungay.

Just an hour and 20 minutes by bus from Huaraz (35 miles), Yungay was once the original capital of the region, home to around 20,000 people and known as the “Pearl of the Huaylas Corridor” (the name for this spectacular valley). Today, it is easy to pass through without a second glance.

It seems like any other small agricultural town in the Andes, with modest homes lining its steep streets and maize fields stretching toward the mountains. But Yungay holds one of the most heartbreaking stories in Peruvian history.

In 1970, a devastating glacial avalanche roared down from Mount Huascarán, burying the town of Yungay and neighboring villages beneath millions of tons of earth.

“In three minutes, it disappeared. In three minutes, the whole town of Yungay ceased to exist,” says Juan Márquez Sánchez, a local guide at the Campo Santo, a memorial site and open-air museum that marks where the old town once stood.

From capital to catastrophe

On May 31, 1970, at exactly 3:23 p.m., a powerful earthquake struck Peru’s Ancash region, setting off a catastrophic avalanche from snowcapped Mount Huascarán. What followed is considered to be the deadliest landslide in recorded history.

From the summit of Mount Huascarán, the highest peak in Peru, a massive portion of glacier and rock broke loose, unleashing a wave of ice, rock, and mud that raced toward Yungay at speeds exceeding 180 miles per hour.

“They say it moved faster than a speeding car, a roar like thunder but much louder shook the earth beneath their feet. The avalanche swept through everything in its path,” Sánchez says.

Yungay lay directly in the avalanche’s trajectory and the town was buried under an estimated 50-100 million cubic meters of debris, covering homes, sports stadiums, churches, and thousands of lives.

The exact death toll remains uncertain, as records were incomplete and many victims were never recovered, but official estimates suggest around 18,000 fatalities.

Studies and survivor accounts propose that only 400 or so residents escaped the Huascarán avalanche in Yungay.

The only survivors in Yungay at the time of the avalanche were 92 people visiting the cemetery atop a small artificial hill above the city. As the mudflow surged through the valley, others managed to scramble up to the same hill, one of the few places spared from the devastation below.

Sánchez’s father was among those who made it to safety on that hill. “He told me how they ran for their lives, climbing as high as they could while the mountain roared behind them,” he says.

“The people on that hill were lucky, but they had to watch the town disappear beneath them. The mud was like quicksand, so those survivors had to stay up there, exposed to cold and hunger.”

Over the course of the next three days, helicopters from the Peruvian military and emergency services repeatedly flew in to deliver food, water, and medical supplies. Aid was also sent from neighboring Bolivia as well as the United States.

They were able to rescue those who were too weak to move on their own, becoming a lifeline for the stranded until rescue teams could reach them.

Fortunately, around 300 children from the city survived because they were attending a circus at the local stadium, which sat on higher ground at the town’s edge. Locals say it was the clown who led them to safety.

Sánchez’s mother also survived the landslide when she was just nine years old. “She doesn’t like to discuss it. It’s a very sensitive topic. We even have a saying that when you take a picture of Huascarán, the mountain is embarrassed. It knows what happened and doesn’t want to be shown. It hides behind the clouds sometimes, as if ashamed,” he says.

New Yungay

Today, the site of old Yungay stands still. After the avalanche, the Peruvian government designated the entire area as a national cemetery, declaring it untouchable and forbidding reconstruction or habitation. Only relatives of the victims are permitted to build tombstones in memory of their loved ones.

In 1982, the site was formally opened to visitors as the Campo Santo memorial and tourist zone. What remains are fragments of life before the disaster.

Walking through the Campo Santo you’ll find four original lone palm trees still standing at the center of what was once the town’s plaza. They were protected by Yungay’s cathedral, once a grand colonial structure; now its fragments lie scattered across the site. Only fragments of its stone walls remain, with a simple cross marking the spot where the altar once stood.

“During the quake, a wedding was happening. The priest ran to the balcony shouting for people to go inside the church, he believed it was safer inside. But the avalanche came and around 2,000 died right there, no survivors,” Sánchez says.

A few kilometers north of the site is Yungay Nuevo (New Yungay). Established in July 1970, just weeks after the avalanche, the town was deliberately rebuilt on safer ground, about 1.24 miles north and shielded from future glacier hazards.

Over the past five decades, it has gradually transformed into a new settlement with paved roads, open spaces and improved public services. One of its most significant milestones is the opening of a new regional hospital.

Inaugurated in January 2025, the four-story regional hospital was built with cutting-edge earthquake-resistant technology, including an advanced drainage system designed to handle heavy rains and the effects of El Niño.

The town is also positioning itself as a base for adventure tourism, with the region’s natural wonders at its doorstep. Aside from sitting at the foot of Huascarán, it’s also close to the turquoise Llanganuco Lakes.

From here, you can easily access hikes into Huascarán National Park, including the popular Laguna 69 and Santa Cruz treks. The pre-Inca ruins at Chavín de Huántar, a UNESCO World Heritage site, are also just a few hours’ drive away, on the other side of the national park. With fewer tourists than Huaraz and more affordable accommodation, Yungay offers a peaceful and practical alternative for visitors.

Plus, the money from your Campo Santo entrance ticket goes directly to local development projects, helping bring Yungay back to life as the vibrant town it once was.

“Tourism is very important for Yungay. It helps us survive and recover. Every visitor who comes to Campo Santo helps the community rebuild and remember,” Sánchez says.

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