PROVINCE OF MENDOZA
You will travel through the Highest Mountains in the American Continent.
You will live the history of the original peoples (Huarpes and Incas), as well as you will also enjoy the vestiges of the time of the Spanish Colony and the fight for freedom of the Argentine and Chilean peoples.
MAIN PLACES OF THE CIRCUIT
• Las Cuevas (3.150 meters): It´s located 90 km from Uspallata . Between 1910 and 1984, a Trans-Andean Railway station operated, connecting the City of Mendoza (Argentina) with the City of Los Andes (Chile).
• Cristo Redentor de Los Andes Monument (3.854 meters), located 10 km from Las Cuevas, it is reached by a high mountain slope. The monument was erected in 1904, on the border between Argentina and Chile, to commemorate the agreement between these two countries on border issues that almost led to war.
• Provincial Aconcagua Park: It´s a protected area that has one of the most valuable natural resources on the planet, fresh water, contained in glaciers and headwaters. Animal diversity (condor, guanaco, fox, American ostrich, etc.) and plant diversity (the lowlands which, due to their variety and productivity, are one of the fundamental bases for sustaining the high Andean trophic chain) also stands out. Cerro Aconcagua (6,962m), which gives its name to the reserve, is the main attraction, being the highest mountain in the American Continent.
• The Puente del Inca is located at 2,719 meters above sea level and was part of the old Inca Trail. It is believed that the formation of the natural bridge is due to the undermining of a fluvioglacial deposit and then cemented by the action of minerals from the hot springs that gush in the area.
• The Penitentes: is a town located 6 km from the town of Puente del Inca. Its name is due to the Cerro Los Penitentes (4350 masl), characteristic for the landscape of its rock formations that look like a pilgrimage of monks. Penitentes has a ski center (Nordic and alpine) that has more than 300 ha of skiable surface, covered in winter by an unbeatable powder snow, dry and compact.
circuit details
• Período: Year-round.
• Duration of the visits: 7 or 8 hours, depending on the time of year.
Itinerary: (*)
• Departure from Uspallata.
• The Penitentes.
• Cristo Redentor de Los Andes (only in summer period).
• Villa de Las Cuevas.
• Walk through the Aconcagua Provincial Park.
• Puente del Inca.
• Quebrada de Picheuta.
• Arrival at Uspallata.
(*) Ask about the options of starting the trip in Mendoza and Potrerillos.
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