PARQUE PROVINCIAL ISCHIGUALASTO

Nicknamed Valle de la Luna for the lunar landscapes formed from its colorless clay, reddish sandstone, and black volcanic ash, Parque Provincial Ischigualasto also deserves to be called “Triassic Park” for fossil-rich sediments that have yielded dinosaur skeletons from 228 million years ago. Finds like the early predator Eoraptor lunensis, the Tyrannosaurus-like Herrerasaurus, and the herbivorous Riojasaurus, have made Ischigualasto, together with neighboring Parque Nacional Talampaya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Of the roughly 35,000 visitors every year, only about 1,000 are foreigners.

About 80 kilometers northwest of San Agustín via bumpy RP 510 and smoothly paved RN 150, Ischigualasto encompasses 63,000 hectares of eroded sedimentary badlands between the easterly Cerros Colorados and the westerly Quebrada de los Jachalleros. RP 150 dead-ends about 15 kilometers to the west, and it’s likely to be some time before it reaches the last 35 kilometers or so to the junction with RN 40 and Jáchal.

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Flora and Fauna
Rather than plants and animals, most visitors come to see whatever the sparse vegetation of hillside cacti and streambed shrubs and algarrobos doesn’t cover. In Ischigualasto’s withering summer heat, most wildlife is nocturnal, but there are guanacos, foxes, hares, rheas, and pumas, as well as rodents, snakes, and other reptiles.

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Sights and Activities
From the visitors center, rangers accompany both private vehicles and guided tours on the Circuito Vehicular, an unpaved 40-kilometer loop past distinctive landforms like the Cancha de Bochas (The Ball Court), El Esfinge (The Sphinx), El Gusano (The Worm), El Hongo (The Mushroom), and El Submarino (The Submarine)—all of which bear some resemblance to the objects from which they take their names. Normally, the circuit takes about two hours but, after summer storms, some park roads may be impassable.

Local guides (contracted at the visitors center for about US$2.50) are obligatory, and plenty of water and snacks are essential, for the three- to four-hour climb of the 1,748-meter Cerro Morado, which gains about 800 meters en route to the solitary summit.

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Practicalities
Camping is permitted at the visitors center, but there is no shade whatsoever and, while the Comedor Dante Herrera has toilets and showers, that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s water to wash and flush—that comes in on trucks. The comedor serves decent meals, cold beer and sodas, and regional products like olives and dried fruit, along with a selection of crafts.

Visitors pay a US$2 entrance fee at the park’s Centro de Visitantes, whose museum contains dioramas of the park in Triassic times, and also includes fossils of some of its dinosaurs. Spanish-speakers should purchase Raúl Romarión’s informative booklet Valle de la Luna: Tierra de Dinosaurios, which is on sale here.

The Thursday and Sunday Empresa Vallecito buses from San Juan to La Rioja stop at the Los Baldecitos checkpoint on RP 510, but that still leaves several kilometers’ walk to the visitors center and raises the question of getting around the circuit (which could be dangerous for hikers and even cyclists in the unrelenting summer heat).

Visiting Ischigualasto without a vehicle may be possible, but a rental car or a tour certainly simplifies things. San Juan’s Grupo Zonda (Mendoza 122 Sur, tel. 0264/421-4200, leo@leonardogalvez.com) offers daily excursions for US$25 pp; this normally requires a four-person minimum, but the Saturday trip goes with or without the minimum. Other operators in both San Juan and San Agustín arrange trips to the park. It’s also possible to hire a private vehicle with driver in San Agustín.