Coloured walls
Minerals and veins.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · PsamatheM — CC BY-SA 4.0 · PsamatheM — CC BY-SA 4.0
A desert valley whose hills and rock walls are streaked with astonishing side-by-side colours, red, pink, green, white, purple and yellow, from the different minerals in the ground such as iron, copper and clay, as if a painter had brushed the mountains. Visitors walk paths between the coloured rock walls and small gullies, the colours shifting with the light and angle, mineral veins showing in the rock. It is quiet, with few visitors compared with Valle de la Luna. On the way lies Yerbas Buenas, where centuries ago ancient caravan herders carved llamas, birds, foxes and human figures into the rocks. Tours also pass the small village of Río Grande with its adobe houses. It is visited on a half- or full-day tour from San Pedro, and the road is long and partly dirt. The altitude around San Pedro is high, so drink plenty of water, move slowly and avoid the highest spots on your first day.
Minerals and veins.
Rock carvings.
An adobe village.
Near Río Grande village, about 100 km north of San Pedro de Atacama
Different minerals in the soil and rock, such as iron, copper and clay, create side-by-side colours that change with the light.