Around Mendoza
The sight of distant purple mountains is bound to draw you from the city sooner or later up into the dramatic Andes to the west, on the road to Chile. This area, known as Alta Montaña, is the undoubted highlight of the region, with Mount Aconcagua at its heart,
and plenty of other places for walking in Parque Provincial Aconcagua. I
f you're thinking of taking a day trip from Mendoza city, bear in mind that you'll get very little chance to walk around, and that you'd be better off hiring a car and spending a few days exploring. You'll pass through the pretty town of Uspallata reached by two possible routes west: either Portrerillos or Vallecitos. At
Potrerillos
, 68 km west of Mendoza you could do a day's rafting, walking or horse riding, but if you're driving, note there's no road between the two since the river was dammed, even though they're only 10 km away from each other.
The alternative route to Uspallata takes you up to
Villavicencio
, 47 km north, where
there
are gentle walks and a charming rustic restaurant in spectacular mountain scenery, though the famous hotel you see on all the bottles of Villavicencio water is still awaiting renovation.
Further west, the road climbs up to Paramillos at 3200 m, a spectacular and much more adventurous route to reach Uspallata valley and the Alta Montaña circuit. This is offered in
some tours, but is more fun in your own transport .
For water sports,
Embalse El Carrizal
, an artificial lake 60 km south of Mendoza, has yachting and fishing, campsites and picnic areas. For skiing in the winter, you can do two resorts in day trips.
Los Penitentes
, 183 km away, is by far the better of the two, but since there's plenty of accommodation there, it's better to go for a couple of days.
Vallecitos
is closer, at 95 km, but it's a very basic little ski resort and the
ripio
roads can be tricky.
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This is edited copy from Footprint Handbooks. For comprehensive details (incl address, tel no, directions, opening times and prices) please refer to book or individual chapter PDF
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