Chile Guide
El Norte Chico
Parque Nacional Nevado de Tres Cruces
The bumpy road up to PARQUE NACIONAL NEVADO DE TRES CRUCES (CH$3500 entrance fee) takes you through a brief stretch of desert before twisting up narrow canyons flanked by mineral-stained rocks. As you climb higher, the colours of the scoured, bare mountains become increasingly vibrant, ranging from oranges and golds to greens and violets. Some 165km from Copiapó, at an altitude of around 3700m, the road (following the signs to Mina Marta) reaches the first sector of the park, skirting the pale-blue Laguna Santa Rosa, home to dozens of pink flamingos. A track branching north of the road leads to a tiny wooden refugio maintained by Conaf on the western shore of the lake. It's a basic but convenient place to camp (no bunk beds, floor space only), with its own private views of the lake backed by the snow-capped Volcán Tres Cruces.
Immediately adjacent, the gleaming white Salar de Maricunga is Chile's most southerly salt flat, covering an area of over 80 square kilometres. A two- to three-hour drive south from here, past Mina Marta, the park's second sector is based around the large, deep-blue Laguna del Negro Francisco, some 4200m above sea level and home to abundant birdlife, including wild ducks and flamingos. Towering over the lake, the 6080-metre Volcán Copiapó was the site of an Inca sacrificial altar. Conaf has its park headquarters and a large, comfortable refugio (Price: CH$10000-15000) about 4km from the lake; the guardaparques are very friendly and take visitors on educational excursions to the lake and around, but if you want to stay over check with Conaf in Copiapó first.