Trekking in the Atacama Desert
What could be better than knowing the Atacama desert by walking amidst its striking landscapes? We offer you a selection of treks and hikes far from conventional tourism circuits were you can experience true nature, untouched. We'll go off the beaten path, following trails made by vicuñas and used by †he Likan-Antai thousands of years ago.
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Paved Road
Full Day Excursions
Half Day Excursions
Special Itineraries
Lights of Talar
A trip through a rich variety of desert landscapes and Lican-Antai villages. We'll explore the gorges in the Andes Range and then we'll head towards the Talar Salt Flat (Red Rocks) to walk by these high altitude Salt Lakes and delight ourselves with these views.
3 Full Days
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Trip Type: Photography, Trekking, Camping
1rst day: Ckari gorge trek and visit to the Moon Valley. Afternoon, Chaxa Lake
2nd day: Talabre + Kezala trek to Soncor, trek Nacimiento Canyon.
3rd day: Tuyajto Lake, Talar (Red Rocks) trek, visit to Miscanti y Miñiques Lakes.
Return to San Pedro.
Tatio
Enjoy a true Altiplanic experience. Explore all 3 Mountain Ranges. We'll visit Andean villages and walk trough the most beautiful landscapes reaching the emblematic Tatio Geysers.
4 or 5 Full Days
Difficulty: Medium
Trip Type: Photography, Trekking, Camping
1rst day: Ckari Gorge trek and visit to the Moon Valley. Afternoon, Devil's Throat trek. Night, Andean Astronomy.
2nd day: Death Valley's Cliffs trek. Afternoon, Rainbow Valley Hills trek in the Domeyko Range.
3rd day: Rio Grande/Machuca Village trek.
.4th day: Morning, Great White Geyser trek (natural hot springs). Afternoon, Cacti Forest in Guatin.
Return to San Pedro.
5th day optional: Ascension of ths Soquete mountain 5400m
Láscar
From the well known landscapes of Moon Valley to the heights of the imposing Láscar volcano, the most active in the northern part of Chile. We'll follow canyons enjoying nature, culture and the changing landscapes of the Altiplano.
4 Full Days
Difficulty: Medium
Trip Type: Photography, Trekking, Camping
1rst day: Ckari Gorge trek and visit to the Moon Valley. Afternoon, Death Valley's Cliffs.
2nd day: Trek in Toconao's gardens and visit to the Chaxa Lake in the Salt Flat. Afternoon, Soncor trek, from the Kezala (Petroglyphs) Canyon to Talabre.
3rd day: Trek from Old Talabre (abandoned town) to Tumbre.
4th day: Trek in the Lejía Lake sector. Return to San Pedro.
5th day optional: Láscar active volcano climb 5592 m; difficulty level: medium/easy).
High Altitude Salt Flats
We begin with some acclimatization treks, once ready we'll go to the inhospitable Altiplano. Here we begin our journey through hills, lakes and salt flats of unmissable beauty.
4 Full Days
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Trip Type: Photography, Trekking, Camping
1rst day: Ckari Gorge trek and visit to the Moon Valley. Afternoon, trek in Toconao's gardens and visit to the Chaxa Lake in the Salt Flat
2nd day: Nacimiento Canyon trek (if you want we can do a bit of rock climbing here)
3rd day: Trek from Tara Salt flat to Aguas Calientes Lake.
4th day: Trek from Aguas Calientes to Pujsa Salt Flat. Returnto San Pedro
Trekking in San Pedro of Atacama Half Day
 El Coyote view point |  Travel in geological time |
|---|---|
 Caves of Ckari |  Salt formations |
Ckari Gorge / Moon Valley
Difficulty: Easy
Distance by Vehicle: 20 km
Walking distance: 5.3 km
Duration: 2 hours
Tickets for reserves: 5,000 clp
Hike that begins at the Kari lookout, we enter this incredible panoramic view of the salt range and we go trough tunnels, dry watwrfalls and deep canyons to reach the Valley of the Moon. We continue by car and visit its points of interest.
 Going to the tunnel |  Walking down the dunes |
|---|---|
 View of the Catarpe valley |
Death Valley's Cliffs
Difficulty: Easy / Intermediate
Distance by Vehicle: 20 km
Walking distance: 7,3 km
Duration: 4hrs
Tickets for reserves: 3,000 clp
We climb an old cattle trail and cross an abandoned tunnel to reach an incredible panoramic view of Death Valley. As we walk, we'll enjoy the sunset, admiring the changing colors in the Andes Range, to finally go down the dunes barefoot.
 Entrance to the gorge |  Trail made by water |
|---|---|
 Clay formations |
Devil's Throat
Difficulty: Easy
Distance by Vehicle: 25 km
Walking distance: 4.6 km
Duration: 3 hours
We climb up a dry waterfall next to the Vilama river, once up, we can see a couple of petroglyphs. We follow a path with a beautiful view of the Andes Range, finally we get to a lookout point were we can see a general view of the Salt Range and the Devil's Throat we descend into this landscape and follow the course of an ancient river running sinuous curves until we reach the San Pedro river and its green surroundings.
We can also do a variation of this on mountain bikes.
 walking by the cactuses |  Cardones cactus |
|---|---|
 Trough the canyon |
Guatin's Cacti Forest
Difficulty: Easy / Intermediate
Distance by Vehicle: 45 km
Walking distance: 3 km
Duration: 2 hours
Reserves Fees: no
We descend into Guatin so we can follow the Puripica river, we follow it through a deep canyon populated by numerous Cardón cacti, that are hundreds of years old. We follow the water through several waterfalls, finally climbing out in an old archeological site, that is still used by shepherds today.
 Deep canyon of Puritama |  Cardones |
|---|---|
 Walking |  Hot springs |
Guatin / Puritama Hot Springs
Difficulty: Easy
Distance by Vehicle: 55 km
Walking distance: 4.7 km
Duration: 3 hours
Tickets for reserves: 15,000 clp
We climb following the Puritama River, finding archaeological remains of the ancient inhabitants of the area along the way. Finally after enjoying the millenary Cardón Cati and nature around this river, we arrive at the beautiful Puritama natural Hot Springs where we enjoy a thermal bath.
 Old road |  Going down to the canyon |
|---|---|
 Gardens in the desert |
Toconao's Gardens
Difficulty: Easy
Distance by Vehicle: 76 km
Walking Distance: 1.6 km
Duration: 1 hr
Reserves Fees: no
We descend through a deep ravine to find narrow and labyrinthine trails that traverse the heritage of the Toconares. We will see rich orchards cultivated with fruit trees and varied vegetation that show us potential paradises in the desert oasis.
 Kezala |  Pictoglyph |
|---|---|
 Petroglyph |
Kezala
Difficulty: Easy
Distance by Vehicle: 60 km
Walking distance: 3,7 km
Duration of the hike: 2 hrs
Tickets for reserves: 3,000 clp
From the small village of Talabre we enter a deserted ravine where we find around 200 petroglyphs carved into the rock walls and some pictoglyphs. These are representations made by the Likan-Antay of their experiences and interactions with the environment, they date between 800 and 400 BC.
Trekking in San Pedro de Atacama Full Day
 Nacimiento canyon |  Follow the river |
|---|---|
 Rock formations |
Nacimiento Canyon
Difficulty: Easy / Intermediate
Distance by Vehicle: 210 km
Walking distance: 12 km
Duration of the hike: 6 hrs
Meals Included: Lunch
Tickets for reserves: No
We climb the pre-cordillera, with a fantastic view of the Atacama Salt Flat. We then descend towards the bed of the Nacimiento river where we observe the flora and fauna of the ravines that where inhabited by the first atacameños.
There is also a shorter version of this hike.
 Petroglyphs |  Salty River |
|---|---|
 Clay formations |
Salado River / Catarpe
Difficulty: Easy
Distance by Vehicle: 110 km
Walking distance: 14 km
Duration of the hike: 4 hrs
Meals Included: Lunch
Tickets for reserves: 3.000 clp
We follow the main water source of the town, the San Pedro river. At the end of our walk we find the white salt river and on our way back we stop at the coca stone where pre-hispanic caravans left their testimony through numerous petroglyphs.
 Cementery of Talabre |  Vertical rock formations |
|---|---|
 Abandoned town |
Talabre / Tumbre
Difficulty: Intermediate
Distance by Vehicle: 135 km
Walking distance: 5,4 km
Duration of the hike: 4 hrs
Tickets for reserves: No
We start at a village abandoned due to the bombardment of pyroclastic materials from the Lascar volcano, Old Talabre. We ascend watching the remains of this settlement and strange rock formations to reach a traditional grazing site called Tumbre.
 Going down from the altiplano |  Abandoned village |
|---|---|
 Snack on the road |  Meeting the Salt range |
 Close to Rio Grande |
Rio Grande / Machuca
Difficulty: Intermediate
Distance by Vehicle: 135 km
Walking distance: 14 km
Duration of the hike: 5 hrs
Meals Included: Lunch
Tickets for reserves: No
From the isolated village of Rio Grande, where time seems to have stopped, we start a long walk to reach the wetlands of Machuca. We cross beautiful landscapes and archeological remains to finally reach Machuca, where the llamas graze and where we find a lagoon populated by flamingos and other birds of the altiplano.
 Aguas Calientes |  Trekking Talar |
|---|---|
 Red Stones |
Talar
Difficulty: Intermediate
Distance by Vehicle: 310 km
Walking distance: 7,5 km
Duration of the hike: 3 hrs
Meals Included: Lunch
Tickets for reserves: No
We travel through vast mountain landscapes to begin our trek surrounding the Murchota hill, from the heights we enjoy views of the Capar salt lake and the Talar Salt Flat (Red Rocks) our final destination. You will admire views that look like a painting.
 Ascend to the salt flat |  Rocks surge |
|---|---|
 First view of Tara salt flat |  Cathedrals of Tara |
Altiplanic Salt Flats
Difficulty: Intermediate / Dificult
Distance by Vehicle: 245 km
Walking distance: 22,7 km
Duration of the hike: 7 hrs
Meals Included: Lunch + Snacks
Tickets for reserves: No
We'll go off road for this one, crossing the otherworldly landscapes that take us to Tara, from there we begin a long and beautiful walk to descend towards the Aguas Calientes Salt Flat.
 Tatio geysers |  Hot river |
|---|---|
 Natural hot springs |  Great white geyser |
Great White Geyser
Difficulty: Easy / Intermediate
Distance by Vehicle: 195 km
Walking distance: 4,2 km
Duration of the hike: 2 hrs
Meals Included: Breakfast or Lunch
Tickets for reserves: 10.000 clp
We begin our journey through geothermal fields from the most visited spot on the Tatio geysers. We then escape the common by following paths made by the passage of vicuñas, they take us to a river of thermal waters where several pools are formed. Here, in absolute privacy, we can choose at which temperature we want to bathe. We end our hike at the source of this river, the Great White Geyser.
 Rainbow Valley |  Petroglyphs in Atacama |
|---|---|
 Geology in Atacama |
Rainbow Hills
Difficulty: Easy
Distance by Vehicle: 150 km
Walking distance: 6 km
Duration of the hike: 2 hrs
Meals Included: Lunch
Tickets for reserves: 3.000 clp
We start walking from an ancient shelter that was used by llama trade caravans. Here the rock walls are covered with petroglyphs. From there, we head towards the Rainbow Valley where we see colorful hills made by plutonic formations, exposed by the folding of the crust due to tectonic movements.
