Ischigualasto Provincial Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Ischigualasto / Talampaya Natural Parks, 2000); Provincial Park Created 1971, Known As The Valle De La Luna · San Agustin de Valle Fertil, San Juan

Ischigualasto is a desert basin in the far north-east of San Juan province where wind and flash floods have carved grey, red and white sediments into shapes that look like nothing on earth, which is why everyone calls it the Valley of the Moon. Its real importance is underground. The rocks here are the most complete continental record of the Triassic period anywhere in the world, and they have given up some of the oldest known dinosaurs, including Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus. You visit on a fixed circuit of about forty kilometres of dirt road, driving your own car in convoy behind a ranger or riding in a park vehicle, stopping at the Painted Valley, the Bowling Pitch with its field of perfectly round stone balls, the Submarine and the Mushroom. A small museum at the entrance shows the fossils. Full-moon tours give the place its name. It is remote, reached by long empty roads, and very hot in summer, so most people stay in Valle Fertil or combine it with Talampaya to the north.

Ruta Provincial 150, Ischigualasto, Valle Fertil, San Juan, San Agustin de Valle Fertil, San Juan, J5449, Argentina

Open every day in daylight hours, with guided circuits leaving from the visitor centre at intervals; last departures are in mid-afternoon, so confirm times. Full-moon night tours run a few nights a month. The circuit closes when rain makes the dirt tracks impassable.

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