El Sosneado Circuit

This beautiful circuit that combines mountain scenes, volcanoes, dams, rivers and endless sunny days both in the summer and the winter starts at San Rafael and runs towards the south.

After travelling almost 35 kilometers along National Route 144 towards the south of the City of San Rafael, a place known as “La cuesta de Los Terneros” (the Calves’ Slope) is reached at almost a thousand meters of height. After appreciating the amazing sights of San Rafael from that point, the circuit starts to go down.

The salt evaporation pond named Salinas del Diamante are another attraction. This giant salt deposit in the open air may be spotted from the road. It is exploited by a well-known company in the province and it also features a “Salt Museum” that lures tourists and visitors and provides information about historical and technical data concerning this rich mineral.

Following National Route 144 with the Andes Mountain Range watching over us, the District of El Sosneado comes into sight after 142 kilometers.

This is a wild area where nature shows off. Various travel agencies from Mendoza bring tourists to this spot to enjoy outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking and other adventure travel options that will guarantee pure adrenaline, such as climbing the huge mountains and high summits all around.

The road starts to border the Atuel River up to a sign post showing the way to the lake known as El Sosneado. This eye-catching water body is an ideal destination for watching birds, both native and migratory, and to catch some silverside or trout coming from different creeks and small mountain rivers.

But the true attraction in this place is reaching the famous hot spring wells that have made it famous worldwide. An old hot spring hotel used to operate here and its pools have remained intact. Thus, all visitors can get to know the healing qualities of these waters.

Going on along National Route 144 still with the Andes Mountain Range next to us, we could observe Overo Volcano to one side and Lake Atuel on the other. Its waters end up in a waterfall that gives origin to the Atuel River.

Visitors are speechless when they find themselves in front of this delightful mountain river of light blue waters that winds down drawing an incredible shape until it reaches the City of San Rafael, providing freshness through the irrigation ditches built in the province of Mendoza.