WHAT: Visiting an archaeological site with remains of a 12th century pre-columbian fortress. Plus gazing at a beautiful, pinky sunset above the surrounding area and the Valle de la Muerte WHERE: 3 km northwest out of San Pedro de Atacama, in the northern desert of Chile HOW LONG: A couple of hours in total will allow you plenty of time. It took me 30 -40 minutes to walk to the place from the center of San Pedro. In total I've spent 2,5 hours at the place; taking a long break to see the sunset. HOW MUCH: Entrance is CLP $3000 or CLP $2000 for students
A gorgeous sunset with many many rosy rays
If you’ve a couple of hours left in San Pedro de Atacama and are so done with all the tour operators trying to lure you into their shop; then I have an idea for you: bring a visit to the ancient ruins of Pukara de Quitor and watch the sun go down over the Valle de la Muerte! It’s nothing big, nor in any way comparable to the sunset over the Valle de la Luna, and if you’re spoilt rotten with ruins you won’t be impressed… and still it’s a fun, little excursion to do on your own that I’d truly recommend!
When I was there, only two other visitors where around and that made the trip to this archaeological site pretty worthwhile and special to me. Plus, the view on the pinky mountains is more or less the same to the one of Valle de la Luna. Without all the big tour buses surrounding you that is.
The hike from the city town is fairly easy, though it can be pretty hot if you do it in the middle of the day. Just follow the river up north and you’ll reach the entrance of Pukará in more or less 40 minutes. You can go by bike too if you want to shorten up this trip, but in general going by foot is fairly doable and cheaper too :).
Once inside there are basically two paths to follow in the area. Both are steep (it was due to this defendable location that the people decided to live here centuries ago), so don’t forget to bring some sturdy shoes.
The first path on the right side leads to the ruins themselves. In size they are fairly big, but lots of their details are lost unfortunately. Yet, as it has some nice views on the green river valley, to me it was still worth the 10 minutes climbing up.
Views on the river below
The ruins from the 12th century
View on the surrounding area from the first road up
A second and larger hike up will lead you to the ‘mirador’, the viewing point. If you are limited in time, only opt for this hike. On top of it you’ll see the second valley on the other side with its rugged, peaky points. At the top there’s also a homage to the natives who were beheaded during the Spanish takeover of the area.
Try to get there around sunset, as the colours on the Valle de la Muerte will change by the minute.
The first point fro where you can see the Valle de la Muerte
On the way up
The Valle de la Muerte at sunset
Matt
March 18, 2024 at 9:11 am
How long is the hike from the entrance to the mirador with the stone circular arch?