Green lakes
At the bottom.
ANDY ABIR ALAN — CC BY-SA 3.0 · ANDY ABIR ALAN — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roberto Fiadone — Public domain · Gabriel Miranda — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Antonio Gritta — CC BY-SA 3.0
Pozo de las Ánimas is a rare geological feature on the road to Las Leñas: two giant round pits side by side, divided by a narrow ridge, each holding a small green lake at the bottom. These are dolines, formed when groundwater dissolved layers of gypsum below and the surface collapsed; erosion is expected one day to swallow the dividing ridge and merge them into one. Each pit is about two hundred metres across and some eighty metres deep to the water, and the view from the rim is striking, with sheer walls, still green water below and snowy Andes all around. The name means «Pit of the Souls», from an old legend of a band who chased their rivals by night until the ground swallowed them; the wind whistling there is said to be their moaning. Entry is free with registration in advance or by QR code at the gate; viewing is from fenced lookouts only, and going down into the pits is no longer allowed.
At the bottom.
Between the pits.
All around.
Provincial Route 222 toward Las Leñas, about 67 km from Malargüe, Mendoza
No, viewing is from fenced lookouts only; entry is free with registration.