Climate: Two marked seasons are characteristic. Winter, from August to December, when the lomas are in full bloom, is the ideal time for visiting. Drought is typical during the rest of the year. A jacket and raincoat are advisable. The temperature in Lachay rarely falls below 12 ºC in winter and climbs to 25 ºC in summer.
Access and Services: The Lomas de Lachay can be easily reached along a 3-km detour road off kilometer 105 in the North Pan-American Highway. Trekking paths, camping and BBQ areas, toilets and a conservation information center are found within park premises.
The Lachay National Reserve was established on June 21, 1977 through Law (D.S.) N 310-77-AG. This reserve is located in the department of Lima, province of Huaura, and it has a surface of 5070 hectares.
A burst of greenery amidst the barren Peruvian coastal desert, the Lomas de Lachay - or Lachay foothills - are a unique natural life zone created by the condensed winter haze that shrouds the western Andean mountain slopes. On specific spots along the coast, the humidity carried to the mountains by the trade winds is deposited on the desert sand as drops of water that nurture a wide range of seasonal plants and associated animal wildlife.
The most common plant species include sturdy tara and palillo trees as well as flowers, cacti and numerous fast-growth bushes like the stinging nettle and wild tobacco.
Almost 60 bird species, including the owl (Athene cunicularia), the partridge (Nothoprocta pentlandii), the american cernicalo (Falco sparverius peruvianus), among many ohter.
Mammals such as the coastal fox (Pseudalopex sechurae), the (recently reintroduced) white-tailed deer, skunks (Conepatus rex), the mountain mouse (Phyllotis spp.), the vizcacha (Lagidium peruanum) and several types of rodents and lizards also are at home in the Lachay National Reserve.
The coastal lomas have been visited and used by Peruvians since the dawn of time. Nomadic hunters and gatherers have left vestiges of their presence in rock carvings in the area.
Pampa Galeras National Reserve
Junin National Reserve
Paracas National Reserve
Lachay National Reserve
Titicaca National Reserve
Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve
Calipuy National Reserve
Pacaya Samiria National Reserve
