From Maimará as our base camp in this region, we also explored the spectacular highlights along Ruta 52.
(Editor’s note: we have visited this area in April 2023)
Purmamarca
Our first stop was in Purmamarca, just 20 km away from Maimará.
It is another beautiful and lively village with interesting market stalls in the center.
The city is not large and can easily be explored in about 2 hours.
In some parts of the village, you can find colorful graffiti on the walls.
Purmamarca has many restaurants to choose from. Not all of them are great. It’s better to read the reviews on Google before selecting one. For a great dining experience, Tilcara is by far the better choice with some outstanding options.
But the main reason to visit Purmamarca is not the village itself but its surrounding mountain range Cerro de los Siete Colores.
Mirador del Cerro de los Siete Colores
The contrast of the different intense colors is absolutely stunning. On the other side of the Ruta 52 leads a short but steep trail to the Mirador del Cerro de los Siete Colores (the viewpoint of the mountain with seven colors). The view from high above the village is spectacular.
The hill directly behind Purmamarca has different shades of yellow, orange, red, and brown colors, while the larger mountain in the background contrasts perfectly with dark green colors.
The walk to the viewpoint just takes 30 minutes and is highly recommended. I would recommend doing the hike in the late afternoon when the light is just perfect and the colors are very intense.
Paseo de los Colorados
Another hike that should not be missed is the Paseo de los Colorados. It starts at the southeastern end of Purmamarca and leads around the Cerro de los Siete Colores.
It takes about one hour and is one of the best short walks you can do in Argentina. Sadly, it is extremely popular and you have to share your experience with hundreds of other visitors.
Doing the hike very early or very late to avoid the crowd is no option because then most of the mountains would be in the shadow making it impossible to enjoy the spectacular colors of this area.
Salinas Grandes
On the next day, we continued the Ruta 52 past Purmamarca.
The road is paved and easy to drive but quickly gains altitude with many bends.
Soon, we reached a pass with an altitude of 4170 m (35 km from Purmamarca).
After the pass with its Mirador de Lipan, the road enters the Argentinian Altiplano. The whole region is called Puna.
The highlights of this area are the large salt flats, the Salinas Grandes, located at an altitude of around 3500 m. The salt flats are quite large with a size of 212 km².
At the entrance to the salt flats are a couple of buildings and sculptures, all made of salt.
This place has a very otherwordly feel. At first, it felt like being on a glacier because our brain was used to interpret large white surfaces as snow and not as salt.
But at the same time, it also felt like being in a sand desert. The following view reminded me a bit of the Tatooine scene in Star Wars.
For a few € you could also drive in your own vehicle on the salt flats, accompanied by an obligatory official guide on a motorcycle who will show you a couple of interesting spots.
The surface of the salt flats has some very interesting patterns, which we hadn’t seen before in a natural environment.
At a section on the salt flats, you can find man-made pools for salt mining (mainly for industrial applications).
On the way back to Maimará we stopped again at the Mirador de Lipan for some shots of the Puna landscape at sunset.
If you are in this area, don’t miss Purmamarca and the Salinas Grandes. They are definitely worth a visit.
Wild Places 