Salinas Grandes, Jujuy
Live the experience of walking on one of the largest salt fields worldwide.
Between the hills and the sky of the Puna in Jujuy, an amazing landscape is waiting for you, over three thousand meters high, covering more than five hundred square kilometers. Walk on a layer of salt that can be up to half a meter thick. Explore a land that millions of years ago was a swamp, filled with water animals and plants. Walk around an area where, in pre-Hispanic times, salt used to be transported on llamas and donkeys.
Come to the visitors’ market [Parador de los visitantes] and take crafts with you which are made from salt. Visit the pools where the mineral, that is later sold, is extracted. And in the rainy season, watch a one-of-its-kind spectacle: the water falling on the salt fields and forming a turquoise mirror reflecting the Nevado de Chañi. In the province of Jujuy, conquer Salinas Grandes, one of the three largest salt fields worldwide.
Geographic location: District of Cochinoca, Jujuy, 66 kilometers from Purmamarca.
How to get there: via Ruta Nacional 52.
Area: 525 sq km Average altitude: 3,350 meters above sea level. Climate: dry Puna climate
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 2 days.
Recommended clothing and gear: take warm clothes, sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat or cap and appropriate footwear for the activity you will be doing.
What to do: photography.
Tips: Check the condition of the roads in the summer months (December through March) as this is the season of heavy rainfall. Inside the salt field there are roads used by vehicles; it is advisable to avoid them if you are not familiar with them.