Salar de Tara
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 86.11 mi
- Elevation gain
- 11,188 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 5,085 ft
- Max elevation
- 15,816 ft
- TrailRank
-
62
5
- Min elevation
- 7,862 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Time
- 5 hours 4 minutes
- Coordinates
- 6742
- Uploaded
- December 12, 2015
- Recorded
- November 2015
near San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta (Chile)
Viewed 17252 times, downloaded 891 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
DESCRIPTION
This tour is among the not so common but probably the best of all. I heard this even from tour guides/drivers. This is “full day tour” but actually you only need half day coming back at 4pm, if the weather is not bad and avoid delays and stops where everyone get off the van to take pictures.
Entrances fee: non.
Wildlife: vicuñas is not so hard to spot on the road, flamingos you can see some in Tara (my experience in november)
Altitude: You will climb high (4400 masl) bring windproof jacket, sunglasses.
Walking, Hiking: the tour don't allow too much time to do tha, there is not much you can do but you can climb a bit in Monjes Blancos, and walk longer in the trail in Salar de Tara heading north. Most of the places are reserves so you cannot just walk freely.
DRIVING YOURSELF
The start of the tour would be in the Monjes de la Pacana, the trail from Atacama to here is just connecting points through a highway, after this point its all sand or similar, on the highway the landscape its nice but the important part its after, Laguna Diamante its a normal lake, Laguna de Quepiaco is a better but you will probably visit without any effort if you have a car.
There are so many roads leading to places looking very good, if you drive yourself you will have lot of fun, but careful, because its reserve many places you need to be careful its not forbidden to go. Check the satelital pictures, north of Salar de Tara almost in the border with Bolivia looks like there are some amazing cliffs. Probably you need a 4WD vehicle, but you can see some tracks on the pictures.
Salar de Tara is a good place to marge with other tour.
Bolivia: if you do Uyuni-Atacama tour you can try leave Bolivia around noon then come here, its good because the last places in the Uyuni tour its at the same high as this place (~4400 masl), if you go back to Atacama first you have to go down 2000 meters. The problem: no Chilean Migration Checkpoint on the border, only in the city, check for info if you can visit then go to migration when you arrive to the city. The other option is do the Uyuni tour starting in Atacama, go first to Salar de Tara then cross the border.
Argentina: if you have to come/go there Tara will be a few hours detour. this border does have Chilean and Argentinian migration offices.
TOUR AGENCIES
Crazy difficult to understand, they merge with other companies, so if you pay more its not necessary a better service, you might end up in the vehicle of other agency with cheaper price. The driver is the important thing here, if you don't book a pack of tours and you meet a good driver in some tour ask how to do more tours with him. Usually the tours are done in mini van, 12 to 20 passengers, so there are not many stops to take pictures on the road, only the main destination (too much time getting everyone out and in again) the vehicle for some reason normally cannot open the window. Getting a private tour in a car might be very good idea so you can skip boring places, ask for more stops on the go. No idea the price for private tour, try find more people and share.
This tour is among the not so common but probably the best of all. I heard this even from tour guides/drivers. This is “full day tour” but actually you only need half day coming back at 4pm, if the weather is not bad and avoid delays and stops where everyone get off the van to take pictures.
Entrances fee: non.
Wildlife: vicuñas is not so hard to spot on the road, flamingos you can see some in Tara (my experience in november)
Altitude: You will climb high (4400 masl) bring windproof jacket, sunglasses.
Walking, Hiking: the tour don't allow too much time to do tha, there is not much you can do but you can climb a bit in Monjes Blancos, and walk longer in the trail in Salar de Tara heading north. Most of the places are reserves so you cannot just walk freely.
DRIVING YOURSELF
The start of the tour would be in the Monjes de la Pacana, the trail from Atacama to here is just connecting points through a highway, after this point its all sand or similar, on the highway the landscape its nice but the important part its after, Laguna Diamante its a normal lake, Laguna de Quepiaco is a better but you will probably visit without any effort if you have a car.
There are so many roads leading to places looking very good, if you drive yourself you will have lot of fun, but careful, because its reserve many places you need to be careful its not forbidden to go. Check the satelital pictures, north of Salar de Tara almost in the border with Bolivia looks like there are some amazing cliffs. Probably you need a 4WD vehicle, but you can see some tracks on the pictures.
Salar de Tara is a good place to marge with other tour.
Bolivia: if you do Uyuni-Atacama tour you can try leave Bolivia around noon then come here, its good because the last places in the Uyuni tour its at the same high as this place (~4400 masl), if you go back to Atacama first you have to go down 2000 meters. The problem: no Chilean Migration Checkpoint on the border, only in the city, check for info if you can visit then go to migration when you arrive to the city. The other option is do the Uyuni tour starting in Atacama, go first to Salar de Tara then cross the border.
Argentina: if you have to come/go there Tara will be a few hours detour. this border does have Chilean and Argentinian migration offices.
TOUR AGENCIES
Crazy difficult to understand, they merge with other companies, so if you pay more its not necessary a better service, you might end up in the vehicle of other agency with cheaper price. The driver is the important thing here, if you don't book a pack of tours and you meet a good driver in some tour ask how to do more tours with him. Usually the tours are done in mini van, 12 to 20 passengers, so there are not many stops to take pictures on the road, only the main destination (too much time getting everyone out and in again) the vehicle for some reason normally cannot open the window. Getting a private tour in a car might be very good idea so you can skip boring places, ask for more stops on the go. No idea the price for private tour, try find more people and share.
Waypoints
Waypoint
14,883 ft
Laguna Diamante
Waypoint
15,052 ft
Road to Bolivia
Waypoint
14,678 ft
Road to Argentina
Comments (7)
You can add a comment or review this trail
We did this route today in a standard (non 4WD) car without a tour. It was tough and I can now say you need to be a very good driver, have a full tank and good wheels. Plenty of supplies (water, snacks) just in case of emergency. Also let your hotel know you're doing it so they can look for you.
Your instructions were incredible. Thank you so much. Loved the photos and explanations. We couldn't have navigated the desert without following closely your tracks!
Thanks for share this tracklog. Very good and with great photos.
Maravilhoso jeremaixs.
Belas fotos e bom relato.
Salvei sua rota e pretendo fazê-la sem setembro de 2019.
Obrigado.
Hola.
La ruta que propones NO ES EL SALAR DE TARA. El acceso al salar esta cerrado por CONAF.
este track fue realizado en noviembre de 2015. Buscando información online dicen que es un cierre temporal hasta finales del 2018 para mejorar las condiciones de los flamencos y que puedan tener crías.
Pero tu ruta no va a Tara. Solo te quedas en el sector de Pakana. Para Tara, tienes que seguir hacia el oriente desde Pakana, dar la vuelta al cerro negro por la izquierda y seguir hacia abajo por la derecha. Hay muchas huellas y pasadas en arenas blandas, piedras etc. No es complicado cuando conoces, pero hay que tener cuidado al regreso desde el salar, porque hay huellas que te pueden llevar a Bolivia sin que te des cuenta.
Tambien es recomendable ir con 4x4 o un auto con potencia: hay 2 subidas que pueden ser un poco complicadas.
Slds
Oliver
Did this route today and it is still viable. We took a 4x4 pickup truck which was necessary as some parts required the clearance unless you wanted to risk driving through some of the deeper sand. Make sure you bring supplies incase you do get stuck and tell someone where to look for you! We didn't see another car the entire time.