Since Huaraz has tourist infrastructure supporting the Ancash Highlands, the city is the main point of arrival for practitioners of adventure sports and mountaineering.

Along with the snowy peaks of the Cordillera Blanca, one can visit archaeological sites like Chavín de Huantar and the eastern highlands of Ancash, known as Conchucos.

There it rushes downward through the narrow Cañón del Pato (Duck Canyon), turns westward at the town of Huallanca, and continues to the coast where it enters the Pacific Ocean south of the city of Chimbote.

The Santa River is the traditional western boundary of Huaraz, although part of the city's population has lived on the west bank there for as long as two centuries.

The creek, whose watershed is the westward facing nearby foothills and slopes of the Cordillera Blanca, has twice since 1940 been the channel of devastating earthquake-precipitated floods (see below).

The territory surrounding Huaraz is heterogeneous, mountainous and rough; because of that its slopes have gradients varying between 2% and 25% in the central zone and 15% and 45% in the outskirts.

[4] The grid plan of Huaraz has changed and disappeared the original composition of four neighbourhoods, as La Soledad (downtown), Belén, Huarupampa and San Francisco.

During the Early Horizon epoch, the Chavín culture influenced the region and it has been proposed by that the ceremonial center located at Pumacayan hill had its beginnings during this period.

Following this, in the Middle Horizon, the area of Huaraz was conquered by the Wari culture, this empire built the archaeological rests of Wilcahuain and Waullac.

This might explain why Pedro Cieza de León records two local versions about the origin of Pumacayan: one tracing it as a monument or fortress of the Inca to commemorate winning a “certain battle” and the other stating that it dates to far ancient times.

Cieza refers to Pumacayan as a "large fortress" because it featured imposing walls that enclosed the buildings and considered it to be one of the most impressive complexes in Peru.

The daughters of the two kings of the Huaylas diarchy were given as secondary wives to the heir of the Emperor Tupac Inca Yupanqui, Huayna Capac.

The ruler of Hurin Huaylas, Huacachillar Apo, gave his daughter, Añas Colque, who was taken to be educated as an Inca noble in Cusco.

During the journey, Hernando provided the first description of the precolonial city of Huaraz, and he also noted the fertile green soil of the Callejón de Huaylas, along with its significant livestock in the highlands and the prosperous towns and villages.

"[10]Francisco Pizarro, known as the Spanish conquistador of Peru, in 1538 granted the right to collect taxes in the area within what is now the province of Huaraz to his subordinate Sebastián de Torres.

As in other areas of Spanish settlement in the Andean countries most agricultural works such as native irrigation canals and terraces were appropriated or destroyed by the colonial administrators.

The creek valley upstream from the city in the mid-1960s exhibited scarred inner banks several meters higher than the normal water level.

On 31 May 1970 the same reservoir dam burst during the Ancash earthquake,[12] which had a moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).

In the prior four years or so, the suburb had begun to again be redeveloped: numerous residences were built atop the 1941 avalanche deposit within the at-risk creek valley.

A few minutes later, the north half of the city, particularly in the creek valley, was obliterated by an avalanche of icy mud carrying boulders and other debris.

The historic structures along the narrow streets, particularly the big adobe casonas (large houses) roofed with ceramic tiles, were reduced to rubble.

During the decade of the 1990s, the Pierina gold mine was established in the region, attracting people from other parts of the country to settle in the city.

Moreover, Huaraz have ever been the center of business, commerce, and finances in the Callejón de Huaylas and the Andean part of Ancash, as if the city is the main supplier industry of farming products in the Region.

Visitors are expected to visit the Huascarán National Park, also known as the biggest glacier in the tropics, and other historical sites as Chavín de Huantar.

Huaraz's mass transit is operated by private companies authorized by city hall and the transportation secretary of Peru.

Less than 40 minutes drive north from Huaraz lies the Comandante FAP Germán Arias Graziani Airport located in the village of Anta; the airfield serves small planes from the two largest mining companies in the region.

Other ruins are located 1 mile from Huaraz in Waullac, surrounded by big prairies with views of snow peaks and mountains.

8 miles north from Huaraz, the Monterrey Baths are located, which contain hot springs with medicinal properties, and also is an ecological place surrounded by forests, where there are lodges and some upscales hotels.

This museum presents three levels divided in four rooms, and in each one, there is an exhibition of cultural manifestations made by the different human groups have inhabited the Ancash Region.

Among the most popular dishes are Picante de Cuy (a roasted guinea pig in a sauce of red spices, served with boiled potatoes), Llunca de gallina (a chicken soup prepared with boiled wheat and yellow spices), Charqui de Chancho and res (roasted pork and beef salted and dried), Pachamanca (a dish prepared on the ground with hot stones, made of different kind of meats as beef, chicken, pork with baked corn and potatoes), Pataska (a hot soup, made with boiled corn and pork or beef skin), Ceviche de Chocho (raw fish marinated in lemon juice served with chocho, a typical legume), and Jamón Huaracino (salty and dried ham).