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dustintclee
Of all my travels, this place is by far the hardest to find any information on, so I want to do my part to change that.First off, position yourself either in San Luis (1.5 hours) or San Juan (I think 2.5). Joining a tour in either city is probably the best case scenario, but from what my hostel's staff told me, they're a bit hard to come by. I also emailed a bunch of travel agencies in San Luis before I went, but only got one response, which said they do tours only for 3 or more people. I asked some follow up questions but never heard back.With that said, a car rental or taking a taxi is your best bet. Your hostel can probably arrange a rep from a rental company to come by with your car. The car rental is not too expensive (755 pesos for the day), but cars in Argentina are generally manual, so that didn't turn out so well for me since I only know how to drive automatic.I then resorted to getting a taxi. My hostel arranged one for me for 1000 pesos including the drive to and from and waiting time there while you explore. My driver ended up charging me by the meter, but it was just 150 pesos more, so I just let it go. If you can speak Spanish or have someone who could help, confirm the price before you get on. This option is probably your best bet if you don't feel confident driving in Argentina/driving manual/can't drive at all.My hostel did mention a bus, but strongly recommended against it since the schedule is terrible. Early morning 8AM departure and then returning from the park something like 8:30PM. It doesn't drop you off right at the park, so you still have to walk a bit to the ticket area, then another 6km to where the trails are.You can easily kill 3 liters of water here, so come prepared. Bring some snacks too, since there's absolutely nothing around here where you can buy anything. If you get a taxi, get the driver some water too. The signage here is minimal, so a guide would greatly enhance the experience. I didn't notice any guides for hire when I was there, as I read on here. My taxi driver did recommend to visit at night, especially when it's full moon (or at least that's what I comprehend...haha). Ticket is 80 pesos for foreigners, and add 20 for the driver's Argentinean ticket if you go for the taxi.Expect to spend 5 to 6 hours if coming from San Luis. 3 hours roundtrip drive, 1.5 to 4 hours doing the trails depending on your pace and which ones you choose to do.tl;dr - for best experience, join a tour or rent a car/taxi, hire a guide, bring tons of water
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sprite75
We visited today by public transport.1. There are frequent busses until 8:05, then nothing until 12:00. We took the 8:05, but the park gets very hot as you walk, so an earlier would be better.2. Many people say the bus drops you at the ranger station. No. It drops you on the main road near a shop and tour company which are not always open. (possibly only in high season) The ranger station is about 500m down the road, but easy to find. They sell a limited amount of snacks there, but no drinks or cold items.3. You will have to walk 6km to the trails, unless you can flag a lift. It's an easy walk, and we saw mara (related to guinea pigs). The mara were fearless, we took photos from about 2m away! At the campsite, there's a nice shady area for lunch and lots of cheeky birds. Some beautiful lizards as well, but they more shy. So, it's about 1 hr and 15-30 minutes, but quite nice. It is very exposed, so sun hat and sunscreen.4. Please suggest to the park that they get bicycles to rent! That would be great.5. The view is stunning. Not all trails are open all the time, and in low season it might not be possible to do the two longer ones which require guides. The others are all very easy. 6. There is no shade in the trails area, but they are putting up a swish new building with toilets and what looks like a shop of some sort.7. Getting home was not so easy. The park ranger thought there was a bus at 15:30 ("mas o menos!") but although we were there at 15:15 (along with a local) no bus came until 16:40. Again, there is no bus stop or shelter, so it is uncomfortable to say the least.The fares were 71 pesos from San Luis to the park, and 80 pesos return.
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LonchaPanelo
If I'm not mistaken, there are 2 different paths to go through. One might be for like 2 hours, it's already an amazing view. Crazy stories and life in that place are almost magical.There's a longer tour for a couple of more hours, that's gotta be fantastic.If you're a lucky bat-tard you'll get to take the "Sierra de las Quijadas FULL MOON" by night tour.
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AmyandLuca
This place was amazing, breathtaking views.We felt it would have been helpful to have the following information prior to visiting:Access to the park is difficult.We tried to arrange a tour however were advised that there was only 1 tour company in San Luis who were able to provide tours and the tours ran on Sundays and Thursdays only. We arrived in San Luis on a Sunday evening and were hoping to travel on the Monday and did not want to wait until the Thursday to take the tour as the only reason for staying in San Luis was to visit the park. The tour company details are: Montero las mejores excursions and their contact number is (0266) 443 7328. The tours they offer cost around 390 pesos per person (in September 2014). We tried to get information about taking a bus to the park but were advised against this option as the times of the buses were unreliable. We resolved to hire a car and were able to rent a good car with GPS for approximately 800 pesos for the day (we obtained details for the car hire company through our hostel). Given that there were 2 of us, this was comparable to the cost of a private tour so it worked out to be a better option than the private tour as we were also able to visit some smaller towns near to San Luis after visiting the park. The distance was approximately 125 kilometres from San Luis and it was easy to get there once we had left San Luis city on route RN 147. The drive took us less than 1.5 hours from San Luis city.When we arrived at the park we attended the visitor centre where we signed in and were provided with information about the walks that were available. There were 2 walks that were possible to take (without a guide) and another walk that was guided. We requested to hire a guide for the guided walk but were informed that there were no tours available as it was 'low season' - visited early September 2014. We were informed that the guided tour involves 4 hours of hiking.The cost of entry to the park was 80 pesos per person.After signing in at the visitor centre, you then drive a further 6km (approximately) to the car park where the self-guided walks commence. If you travel to the park by bus, note that you would need to walk 6km to get to the start of the walks, as well as 6km back out to the main road to catch a bus back to San Luis. There are 2 short walks that can be taken and both offer amazing views. Despite the difficulty in getting to the park, the views are spectacular and it was definitely worth the effort.
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carolinai963
If you have the opportunity to visit this park just go! It´s fantastic. At the moment of buying the excursion take into account there are three type of excursions depending your capability.
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HOWARDSHORE
If you want to see beautiful Landcapes and Sierras, then this is the Right Place to visit!It took us about 2.5 hours from San Luis Capital City to get there, but it is well worth it and You will leave the place taking with You Very Memorable Pictures to Cherish forever!I definitely Recommend this place to visit on your next visit out to San Luis Province!
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martinpathan
It is a bit hard to get to this national park but the views are stunning. Apparently there is a bus service but in the end I hired a tour with a guide based in San Luis (city). The journey from San Luis took about just under two hours and once we were there we walked on some of the paths at near the entrance and my guide pointed out interesting things to see and some of the geological background to the place as well as its history and relevance to paleantologists. We also saw a snake which was interesting. The views are amazing and the scale is difficult to appreciate (rock formations which you see across the vast valley are actually 10s of km away)
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smk47807
If remote is your thing, this is it. The setting is beautiful but getting there is a challenge. I had to pay a cab $100 US to take me up from San Luis, but that said, it was worth it.
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Carla_M86
easy trekking through the sierras, there;s plenty of springs to splash in a hot summer day. Beautiful birds and butterflies!
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CarlyW449
We set out on a day trip to see this park from Mendoza. You definitely need to confirm your route with someone that's been out this far beforehand. We tried following the map via San Luis and that was a mistake. It was almost 5 hours to get there--as opposed to 3 hours via San Juan. However, once we finally made it, it was breathtaking. The views were phenomenal, the paths decently marked and the park staff very helpful. While the hike is really only a 45-minute circuit, I think we would have gotten a bit more out of it if we had hired a guide. The bluffs and cliffs are very windy, so be prepared. Also, bring sunscreen.
