Ruta 40, North and Cuyo Sectors

Ruta 40 (“Route 40”), or National Route 40 is the longest and most spectacular road in Argentina. It covers the whole country from north to south, parallel to the Andes mountains, from La Quiaca, on the Bolivian border, to Cabo Vírgenes, in Santa Cruz province, the southernmost place in the continental territory of Argentina. The route covers more than 5.200 Km., crossing 11 provinces, 20 Reserves and National Parks, 13 big lakes and salt mines, 126 bridges and 26 mountain passes, reaching a maximum altitude of 5,000 meters above sea level.

The road was planned in 1935, having suffered many modifications on its route since then, especially on the North of the country. For many years it was just a long distance national road, with very light traffic and without a uniform milestone marking identifying the road as such along its entire route. This changed in 2004, when the government’s Tourism Department drove the unification of the entire route under the name of Ruta 40, and launched a promotion campaign in order to attract tourism both inside the country and overseas. During the last few years this has resulted in Ruta 40 being one of the most well-known brands within the touristic scene in Argentina, placing itself internationally as one of the big road trips adventures, together with Route 66 in the USA, Stuart Highway in Australia and Carretera Austral in Chile, among others.

The road does not have a uniform pavement, just about 50% of the route being asphalted. Some parts are even a four-lane highway, like the stretch that crosses the city of San Juan, while a lot others are just a dirt road, some in good condition, and some other in very bad shape, especially in the north and in Jujuy and Salta provinces and in the central part of Santa Cruz, on the south end.

The route is divided in three parts: North, Cuyo and Patagonia. The milestone markings are placed from south to north with the “zero” kilimeter being in Cabo Vírgenes, in Santa Cruz province; nevertheless for this description we will follow the north to south direction.

On this post we will describe the North and Cuyo sectors of Ruta 40, so we can dedicate an entire post to Patagonia.

North Sector

The North Sector of Ruta 40 comprise the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán and Catamarca.

In Jujuy province the road starts from La Quiaca, just a few meters away from the Bolivian border, located between this town and Villazón, on the bolivian side. The road turns to the west and soon goes south crossing the puna grassland, always above 3,000 metres high and sometimes even over 4,000. Only the part between La Quiaca and Abra Pampa is asphalted, while the rest of the route in Jujuy and Salya is dirt road, and has very light traffic.

After crossing the Tropic of Capricorn the route passes by the famous Quebrada de Humahuaca, with exceptional landscapes and picturesque villages like Iruya, Humahuaca, Tilcara and Purmamarca. (Those are all on Route 9 that runs parallel to Ruta 40). Then the road enters the Salta province by San Antonio de los Cobres, where it crosses the last stretch of the famous Tren a las Nubes. In Salta the road goes through the spectacular Calchaquí Valleys, passing by wonderful places like Cachi, Molinos, Los Cardones National Park, Quebrada de las Flechas and the lovely town of Cafayate.

After Cafayate, the southermost town in Salta, the road follows through the Calchaquí Valleys, entering briefely in Tucumán province, going by the Ruins of Quilmes. Then Ruta 40 enters the amazing and arid province of Catamarca, crossing it from norteast to southwest, passing by Santa María, Belén and Londres (London), the first town founded in Catamarca by the Spanish conquerors, and the second in all the Argentinian territory.

Cuyo Region

The Cuyo Region comprises La Rioja, San Juan and Mendoza provinces.

The road enters La Rioja coming from Londres, Catarmarca, going through Famatina Mountain Chain (an area immersed in a serious conflict for the mining development), and towards the town of Chilecito. The entire stretch on Catamarca, La Rioja, San Juan and Mendoza has been a fundamental part of the last editions of Rally Dakar which has given a lot of international exposure to one of the least known areas in Argentina, attracting new tourists. During the 2012 edition of Rally Dakar there were stages ending in Fiambalá (Catamarca), Chilecito (La Rioja), San Juan (San Juan) and San Rafael (Mendoza).

Arter Famatina the road arrives to Villa Unión, the access point to the amazing Talampaya National Park, a true wonder of nature and quite unknown as well outside and even inside Argentina. From there the route goes between Sierra del Maíz and Cerros Colorados to enter San Juan province. In San Juan the road crosses the desert valleys of Jachal and Tulum to reach the capital of the province, the city of San Juan. There the road turn into the tree-lined Rawson Avenue that crosses the entire city. Going south the Route 40 integrates the so-called Wine Route, which comprises many vineyards of the areas where excellent wines of the Syrah variety are elaborated.

Once in Mendoza province the road crosses its capital and then goes south, passing by Tupungato National Park and the spectacular Córdon del Plata, a mountain chain with an average altitude over 4,000 meters, and then reaching the city of San Rafael. After leaving San Rafael the road passes near the huge Nihuil Reservoir, point of access to the Atuel River Canyon, an impressive natural formation produced by the water and wind erosion over the sinuous Atuel River. The exit to the canyon is located in the town of El Sosneado, which takes his name from the near Sosneado Peak, of 5,169 meters, where the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 that headed to Santiago de Chile crashed, the incident popularly known as the “Miracle in the Andes”.

After El Sosneado the road reaches the exit to Las Leñas Ski Resort, among the best in South America. Then it goes down to Malargüe, one of the capitals of adventure tourism in Argentina. After passing by Reserva Caverna de las Brujas (the Witches´ Cave), the biggest limestone cave in Argentina, with enormous subterranean galleries sculpted with all kinds of stalactites, stalagmites and columns, the road goes down South to reach the Neuquén province and enter the mythical PATAGONIA.

On our next post we will describe the stretch of Ruta 40 in Patagonia.
You can book a private trip in 4×4 vehicle with us along Ruta 40 by its central sector (North of Patagonia and Cuyo) visiting out Routes section, or getting in touch with us here.