The switchbacks
A coiling road.
Rovagnati — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bachelot Pierre J-P — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Luiz Nascimento — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gustavo Muñoz Clos — CC BY-SA 3.0 · rodoluca — CC BY-SA 3.0 · MARINACHE2020 — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Cuesta de Lipán is a winding mountain stretch of National Route 52 in Jujuy, climbing about 17 kilometres from Purmamarca at 2,192 metres to the Abra de Potrerillos at 4,170 metres, the road's highest point, then descending to the white salt flats of Salinas Grandes at 3,450 metres. The road is fully paved and twists through bend after bend up the mountainside, past the Hill of Seven Colours; just below the top a viewpoint shows the whole road coiling down to the valley, one of the best-known images of northern Argentina. The scenery shifts as you climb from coloured valleys to the bare Puna plateau. The road is public and free, usually driven on a day trip from Tilcara or Purmamarca to Salinas Grandes. Mind the altitude above four thousand metres, and stop only at safe viewpoints.
A coiling road.
The whole road.
Salinas Grandes.
National Route 52, between Purmamarca and Salinas Grandes, Jujuy
The Abra de Potrerillos at 4,170 metres, so take care with the altitude.