Piedras Rojas

What makes it special

What you look at here is two colours side by side. Massive red and pink boulders run down to a salt lagoon whose water is a deep emerald green.

Accounts of the site trace the red to the rock itself. The boulders formed from volcanic lava rich in iron, and the iron gives them their colour.

The same accounts put the green down to the water. The lagoon carries heavy concentrations of salt, gypsum and halite, and those minerals turn it emerald against the red stone.

You can see the lagoon but you cannot reach it. You must keep back from the water, and swimming is not allowed.

Piedras Rojas sits in the same corner of the Atacama as Lagunas Miscanti and Miñiques and Laguna Chaxa. Most full days out of San Pedro take in all of them.

Visiting

One flat loop path of 2.9 km runs from the car park out among the boulders, and walking it is the whole visit. Before that, check in at the Socaire control post, the same one used for Laguna Miscanti, an hour before your slot, with the QR code saved as a screenshot because there is no signal there.

Staff check the QR code, then hand you a paper ticket to carry for the rest of the day. The drive on to the car park takes about an hour, and a guard there stamps the ticket and shows you where to park.

Walk the loop at an easy pace, since the thin air makes every step harder. Stop as often as you like for photographs, and the path brings you back to the car.

Guided or on your own

A tour is a real choice here. Full-day tours from San Pedro cover the whole circuit, and the operator handles transport, tickets and meals. The reserve recommends a guided visit for the Miscanti and Miñiques sector because of the altitude, the distance and the road.

Pick an authorised tour if you have no rental car or cannot get a ticket online. With a rental car you can drive the route yourself.

Tips

Buy your ticket as soon as your dates are fixed, because slots sell out and the ticket site often times out or refuses foreign cards. Allow for the queue at Socaire as well, which can take fifteen minutes or a full hour.

Dress for cold even in summer. The desert often drops below freezing at night and the early morning stays chilly, so bring warm layers and sunscreen for the strong sun at altitude. Ordinary shoes are fine on the flat path, and cash is safer than a card in Socaire.