The old mine
300 m of tunnels.
Christian G. Stampac… — CC BY 3.0 · miroab — CC BY-SA 2.0 · miroab — CC BY-SA 2.0 · miroab — CC BY-SA 2.0 · miroab — CC BY-SA 2.0 · miroab — CC BY-SA 2.0
La Carolina is a small gold-mining village in the San Luis hills, at the foot of a 2,018-metre peak, 83 kilometres north of the provincial capital. Gold was found nearby around 1785, and the town was laid out in 1792 by the viceroy Sobremonte, who named it after King Charles III of Spain. In 2023 the UN World Tourism Organization named it one of its Best Tourism Villages. Its stone houses and steep streets keep an old frontier feel, and gold is still panned from the river by hand. Guided visits enter the old mine in helmets and rubber boots, following the main tunnel some 300 metres into its galleries, and some guides show visitors how to pan for gold. The poet Juan Crisóstomo Lafinur was born here. Wandering is free; mine tours are paid. The Inti Huasi cave is close by.
300 m of tunnels.
In the river.
An old frontier feel.
Provincial Route 9, about 83 km north of San Luis
Yes, on paid guided tours with helmet and rubber boots that follow the main tunnel about 300 metres in.