The park covers an area of 3,367 sq km making it the 7th largest national park in the country.
The heart of the national park lies in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range which is the central part of the larger Andes. The range is the world’s highest tropical mountain range. Some of the leading peaks include the park’s namesake Huascaran, Huandoy, Copa, and Huantsan.
Along with the spectacular mountain range and picturesque mountainous landscapes, the park features 300 glacial lakes, tremendous U-shaped valleys, and at least 660 tropical glaciers. This makes the national park the largest tropical glaciated area in the world.
The vegetation habitats include subalpine, alpine, and tundra. Additionally, the habitats include high Andean forests and montane grasslands. One of the floral highlights is the Queen of the Andes, locally known as the puya de Raimondi. It reaches heights as tall as 15 m and provides a striking column or stalk that reaches toward the sky.
The varied ecosystem provides habitats to support the diverse wildlife of the area. Some of the favorite species include jaguar, cougar, llama, guanaco, white-tailed deer, marsh deer, spectacled bear, tapir, crocodile, vicuna, Andean deer, and the Andean fox.
There are over 120 species of birds that add to the diverse wildlife experience for animal lovers. Two of the favorites are the giant hummingbird and the Andean condor which is the world’s largest flying bird.