Route Guide
The Machame Route: Kilimanjaro's Whiskey Route, Day by Day
The most popular route up Kilimanjaro — and for good reason. Rainforest to glacier in six or seven days, with a scenic profile and a built-in acclimatization day via Lava Tower.
Typical Length
6–7 Days
Round-Trip Distance
~62 km / 37 mi
Summit
Uhuru Peak, 5,895m
Difficulty
Moderate–Challenging
Where the Route Starts
Day-by-Day Camp Profile
- 1
Machame Gate (1,800m) → Machame Camp (3,000m)
Rainforest
5–7 hrs trekking
- 2
Machame Camp (3,000m) → Shira Camp (3,840m)
Moorland
5–6 hrs trekking
- 3
Shira Camp (3,840m) → Barranco Camp (3,900m)
Via Lava Tower (4,600m) — climb high, sleep low
6–8 hrs trekking
- 4
Barranco Camp (3,900m) → Karanga Camp (3,995m)
Barranco Wall scramble, then alpine desert
4–5 hrs trekking
- 5
Karanga Camp (3,995m) → Barafu Camp (4,673m)
Alpine desert
4 hrs trekking
- 6
Barafu Camp (4,673m) → Uhuru Peak (5,895m) → Mweka Camp (3,100m)
Summit night — scree and glacier remnants, then descent
12–14 hrs trekking
- 7
Mweka Camp (3,100m) → Mweka Gate (1,640m)
Rainforest descent
3–5 hrs trekking
Camp altitudes and timings are typical for the route and vary slightly by operator, group pace, and weather. Confirm the exact daily plan with your operator before booking.
Why Trekkers Choose Machame
Machame earns its popularity through variety: you pass through five distinct ecological zones — rainforest, moorland, alpine desert, and the arctic summit zone — in under a week. The route to Lava Tower and back down to Barranco Camp is a textbook "climb high, sleep low" acclimatization day, which is part of why it's favored over faster, flatter routes.
It's a camping-only route (no sleeping huts), so it pairs naturally with a fully-supported crew of guides, cooks, and porters — which is standard on every Machame itinerary we run.