Garganta del Diablo
A cleft between red walls.
Littletroll — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bernard Gagnon — CC BY-SA 4.0 · travelwayoflife — CC BY-SA 2.0
The Quebrada de las Conchas, the Valley of Shells, is a gorge of red sandstone on National Route 68 between Salta and the town of Cafayate, where wind and water have carved strange shapes over tens of kilometres; it is a nature reserve, named after the marine fossils found in its rock. Its best-known stops are the Garganta del Diablo, a huge cleft you walk into between towering red walls, and the Anfiteatro, a vast round hollow with an echo where musicians sometimes play, along with formations with names like the Castles, the Frog and the Friar. The gorge is usually crossed on the way to Cafayate, the town of the Calchaquí valleys, with stops at the main sights, making a long day from Salta. The light is best early in the morning or before sunset, when the rocks glow deepest red.
A cleft between red walls.
A hollow with an echo.
Castles, Frog, Friar.
National Route 68 between Salta and Cafayate
No. The stops along National Route 68 are free, and the gorge is usually crossed on the way from Salta to Cafayate.