During our first visit to Argentina in 2022 we drove from the town of San Antonio de los Cobres toward the Chilean border. We were to cross the Andes via the Paso de Jama pass and our destination was the town of San Pedro de Atacama. One of the stops on this route was the Salinas Grandes in Jujuy province.
Where Salinas Grandes are located
Salinas Grandes lie in northern Argentina, on the border of the provinces Jujuy and Salta, at an altitude of approximately 3 400 meters above sea level. It is an extensive salt flat with an area of around 212 km², one of the largest in Argentina.
The road from San Antonio de los Cobres
Shortly after leaving San Antonio de los Cobres, when our route began running along the edge of the plain, we began to realize the enormous scale of this place. The salt flat opens up before us gradually and with each passing kilometer it feels larger and emptier.
Although Salinas Grandes are not among the largest salt flats in the world, in real life they feel almost endless. Snow-capped volcanic peaks appear far off in the distance. It’s a scenery that immediately captured my heart.
Salt flat for the first time
We reached this attraction via a side road and only at the end of the route did we join Route 52, which crosses Salinas Grandes. From afar you could already see the parking lot, full of tourists, buses and various stalls. After a few minutes we arrived too, parked in the lot right at the edge of the plain and began our exploration.
It must be said that it wasn’t a quiet place. Quite the opposite — there were many larger and smaller souvenir stalls, an information office and a range of activities for visitors. One of them was the option to hire a Spanish-speaking guide who took us directly onto the surface of the salt flat.
The experience was all the more interesting because we were allowed to drive onto the plain in our own car. Shortly after entering we realized how intense the sun is here. The sky was cloudless and the sharp light reflecting off the white salt literally burned our eyes. Don’t even try it here without sunglasses and strong sunscreen.
After a few minutes of driving we stop at a spot where the guide gives us an explanation. It’s a pity we don’t understand a word of the guide, but we try to catch something. More than the explanation itself, we are fascinated by the scenery around us. We find ourselves in an area where there are artificially built inlets filled with water in the salt flat. The water in them has a beautiful light-blue color and at first glance they look more like pools in a luxury resort than part of a harsh high-mountain landscape.
On the plain itself we spend about an hour and, like most tourists, we also take unique shots here. The endlessness of the white surface stands out even more from the drone’s perspective, which I, of course, flew here. Of course, at the end we return to the parking lot, where we spend a not insignificant amount of time buying souvenirs. However, we still have a long journey ahead toward Chile, so in the end we say goodbye to this place and head further west.
Salinas Grandes as part of the journey across the Andes
This stop wasn’t a destination in itself, but part of a long crossing of the Andes. Yet it left an even stronger impression. For us it was our very first contact with a salt flat. We’d already traveled and seen a lot, but this was something new for us too. The white surface of Salinas Grandes, hard and cracked, was simply a novelty for us. If you ever pass by, it’s a place worth a short stop.