Ischigualasto / Talampaya

This review will be one of disappointments and cautionary tales. I (almost) visited Ischigualasto and Talampaya parks in March 2023. I have been there and seen some elements of it, which by my standards is enough to count as a visit. However, my rating is definitely to be taken with a grain of salt.

I visited these parks with a tour operator in La Rioja (I can't remember for sure which one, but I think it was Corona del Inca). Since they didn't offer the Saturday tour I had targeted, I shifted my visit to Sunday. In doing so, I stayed an extra day in Cordoba (which has much more to offer than La Rioja) and spent one less in Salta. The tour operator picked me up at the hotel under a beautiful sun and we left for the parks with two other Argentinian tourists.

But it got ruined on the way, as it started to rain. Although the rain was just a light drizzle in Ischigualasto, the tour was delayed and ultimately cancelled. The excursion involved traveling in personal cars across some dry streams, which could become dangerous rivers when it rains. While waiting at the visitor's center, I visited the excellent Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Ischigualasto, which had fossils, bones, and replicas of the main dinosaurs found in the park. Outside, there was a rather banal viewpoint of the park's landscape.

We then proceeded to Talampaya, hoping that the tours there were not cancelled. …

In my lonely planet travelbook and in this community I encountered various distinctive ways how to reach these remote natural parks. In the end I decided to go into the Province capital of La Rioja which is still about 2 hours or 200 km from the park entrances but by this the next big city in reach. It's a pleasant town in autumn with summer like weather every day- I can imagine that it gets too hot in real summer here. We checked out the information kiosk on the plaza and it was giving us some outdated prices of the Talampaya park. Information about Ischigualasto was hardly available as this park which is connecting to Talampaya park at the province border of La Rioja and San Juan is on the wrong side of the province border. It's even greyed out on the tourist maps like anything else outside the province. Argentinian tourist information counters really don't care about how their customers are thinking especially when it comes to provincial borders. Nevertheless they could give us contacts of travel agencies and rental car services which was helpful. As we wanted to visit both parks and it became clear that Ischigualasto which is commonly named Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) is not reachable by public transport. The tourist office guy even said that not all buses from La Rioja to Villa Unión pass by Talampaya but that it could be that they take a more northern route nowadays. But again this …

I'd never heard of this WHS until looking at the list just before entering Argentina. It wouldn't have made my itinerary either if not for Michael Novins' detailed review on how to get to Talampaya by public transport. Suddenly it seemed like a very doable stop between Mendoza and Jujuy and we are glad we made the effort. 

From Mendoza we took a bus to the tiny town of Patquia, planning to catch the Facundo bus on its way from La Rioja and saving us an hour of sleep and backtracking. What we got for our troubles was standing room on a very crowded and hot bus. It was running late but we easily had enough time for a tour before catching the return bus at 4pm (also running late). 

Entry fee and tour fees were a little high considering that this is not a popular or busy site with foreign or even domestic tourists as far as we could tell. We were easily able to pick whatever tour we wanted. There were options for short walking tours and driving ones. At 40 degrees we weren't going to walk any more than necessary. We ended up in a van. It seemed to be the most common option and the one that worked best with our timing. There is no choice but the set 4 stops or a slightly longer tour with a 5th stop in another narrower canyon. The 5th stop was actually quite nice and the group …

In October 2017 I visited Talampaya National Park by public transport from La Rioja, which is much easier than I was led to believe by the information I read on various websites. I took the 7:00 am bus operated by Facundo from La Rioja, destination Villa Unión, which travels through Talampaya National Park. Around three hours from La Rioja, the bus passes the park's main entrance, where the bus will stop upon request (I was the only passenger to disembark at the park, so don't rely on others to request the stop). The bus arrived at the main entrance just after 10:00 am.

From the highway stop, it's a few minute walk to the administration building (restaurant, tours, restroom, etc.). I canvassed the various tours, but all of the vehicular tours of the park are essentially the same and make the same four stops (petroglyphs, a shaded area with a variety of plants, and two different areas known for sandstone formations). The only decision was whether to take a minibus, overland truck or full-size bus. I opted for the overland truck since passengers are allowed to ride in seats bolted to its roof, allowing a 360° view, but all of the vehicles follow the same route, so it hardly matters. The tours follow a dry riverbed through a vertiginous red sandstone canyon searching for 1500-year old petroglyphs (several), wildlife (not much) and unusual stone formations (plenty), some of which are enormous.

The tours last about three hours. I took the …

Ischigualasto National Park is one of the secrets of Argentina. Barely mentioned and hard to access, it’s rarely on the itinerary of the average traveller. It is worth the effort, though. The moonscapes turn into stunning valleys. Rocky outcrops named for the shapes they resemble (the sphinx, the submarine…) appear seemingly from nowhere.

In the rocks, hidden from view for millions of years, are the remains of dinosaurs. Many have been discovered and moved for scientific research. Undoubtedly many more remain beneath our feet. The rocks are up to 240 million years old – and this is the world’s most complete fossil record of the Triassic Era. Nowhere else on the planet reveals so much about the evolution of vertebrate life.

While it was 40 degrees Celsius the day before in La Rioja, it even rained on the Saturday I set out to visit Ischigualasto and Talampaya Parks.

At the park entrance of Ischigualasto we were told that parts of the park were sealed off for visiting today because of flooding. Fortunately, we could get into a significant part. Visiting here is regulated by driving in a convoy, assisted by a park guide. This park sees about 150 to 200 visitors a day and is more commonly known as Valle de Luna. There were 5 other cars in our group. The guide signed for stops, which included short walks and explanatory talks.

Right at the beginning are rocks that perfectly show the thousands of layers of sediments that have been left here by geological processes. The area used to have a tropical climate with abundant flora and fauna but is now strictly desert. Fossils of plants are still in situ and are clearly distinguishable. The remainder of the 2.5-hour tour takes unpaved roads through the often strangely shaped desolate landscape. One of the most remarkable is de cancha de bochas, like a bowling court where the balls have been shaped by water en wind.

The entrance to Talampaya Park, although contiguous with Ischigualasto, is 80 kilometers away. Tours here are guided minibus tours only, which you can arrange at the gate. The route here covers a spectacular drive on the dry riverbed right through the canyon, which …

I visited these parks in January 2003. I went first to the little town of Pagancillo. I could find neither package trips nor any form of public transport to the site but a local resident, Aldo, was happy to taxi me around in his pick-up truck, and at a very reasonable price too.

We visited Ischigualasto first, Aldo advised that the light was better earlier in the day. Here visitors' vehicles are organised into a convoy and then led around the site by a Park Guide. Frequent stops are made and things of interest pointed out and explained. Although this was said to be the rainy season there was very little substantial vegetation, it's a semi-desert, in parts rather like the Badlands of Dakota but perhaps not as colourful.

There are some remarkable and highly dangerous looking columns where a hard rock capstone protects and is supported by a tapering towards the bottom pillar of softer rock.

There is a feature known as The Ball Court where large, almost perfectly spherical stones have been formed by windblown sand sticking to an inner core.

While Ischigualasto is perhaps of most interest to those with a serious interest in geology, Talampaya is more picturesque. Here the park rangers provide the transport and in about 3 hours will show the visitor petroglyphs cut to exploit a remarkable blue deposit on reddish brown rocks; guanacos and a variety of birdlife; an excellent echo, got by shouting into a canyon and some (20m?) sandstone columns …