4WD tour to Mount Avanzado

Just 16 kilometers from the City of Puerto Madryn, we found this wonderful place of astounding natural beauty. We had a clear target: a visit to the famous Mount Avanzado on an incredible 4WD.

Our tour started since the moment we got on the truck, which picked us up at our lodging. Before we could even notice, the 4WD took the well-known Roca Avenue southwards –which borders on the shoreline of the City of Puerto Madryn-, towards our final destination: the spectacular Mount Avanzado.

During our trip, we could appreciate stunning scenery. For instance, before we took a bend towards a gravel road, we had the chance to visit the southern neighborhood with plenty of houses, hotels, apart hotels and first class vacation houses available for those who want to stay in Puerto Madryn.

Later on, we could get into a narrow road surrounded by the typical Patagonian steppe. Most of the landscape featured the typical traits of desert lands. This is due to the forest fires that have unluckily contributed to the degradation and loss of soil fertility.

We could also see a variety of animals dwelling in this area: piches, guanacos, choiques, Patagonian hares, foxes, Guinea pigs and a diversity of bird species. These animals are part of the conspicuous native fauna of the area and they are really beautiful.

Suddenly, it was the right time to head torwards the enormous Patagonian dunes, lying to the left of the road. We gathered some courage and enjoyed the steep ups and downs of the area, which made us feel real vertigo.

However, to tell the truth we could surrender to the pleasure of this experience because the vehicles were especially prepared for this kind of journeys, with powerful four-wheel drive and special radial-ply tires.

And, as it was expected, the applause finally came. We found ourselves facing a great number of cliffs, situated on the Argentinian eastern coastline, in the middle of the Patagonian steppe, which was part of an awesome landscape. Fossils of whales, other cetaceans, mollusks and of a whole extinct fauna found in this area were the evidence of the marine origin of this geological formation. Afterwards, the vehicle climbed up once again until we finally arrived at our destination: the majestic Mount Avanzado.

We got off and briefly toured the place. This mount is located at an altitude of 102 MSL and offers a full view of the Valdés Peninsula, the spectacular New Gulf, Punta Ninfas and the Morro Nuevo.

Our guide explained to us that white sediments found on cliffs had their origins in ancient times and once belonged to the Patagonian sea, whereas ochre sediments came from newer periods and belonged to the “Entrerriense” sea, dating from 30 millions of years ago (Upper Miocene).

Such a landscape left us speechless. We started our way back full of pleasure, without leaving aside the vertigo and speed we had felt on the vehicle during our trip.