What to do in the Atacama Desert
- Will Gerson
- Mar 16
- 4 min read
The Atacama Desert, which covers roughly the northern third of Chile, is home to some of the most surreal landscapes that can be found anywhere in the world. It is the driest true desert on the planet, and its climate is so extreme that it has been used as a testing site for NASA’s Mars rovers. In addition, the desert’s isolation and virtual lack of cloud cover make it an ideal spot for both amateur stargazing and high-level astronomical research, with the area being home to some of the world’s most advanced large telescopes.
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Transportation
Visiting the desert and taking in its Martian landscapes is actually much easier than it might sound. The quaint town of San Pedro de Atacama, a little over an hour’s drive east from the mining center of Calama, is designed for tourism and makes for a perfect place to stay during your visit.
Rather than worrying about a private vehicle, I recommend taking an airport transfer from Calama and, once you are in San Pedro, letting a tourist agency do the leg work for you. Turismo Chile Tours will help make your visit a memorable and stress-free one, with their friendly, bilingual guides picking you up at your hotel and providing snacks and drinks along the way. They will help you plan your itinerary to maximize your time in this wonderful place, but read on for inspiration or to plan on your own.
Valle del Arcoiris
As its name suggests, the Rainbow Valley offers visitors a stunning array of colors, owing to the more than 250 minerals contained within its arid soil.
A dazzling display of large rock formations in varying shades of red, green, white, and grey await you in this amazing valley, which is also a great place to see grazing guanacos, the wild counterpart of domesticated llamas.
Petroglifos Yerbas Buenas
Close by are the oft-overlooked petroglyphs of Yerbas Buenas, which provide a fascinating window into the pre-Columbian societies who inhabited this arid land.
The Atacameños, who were primarily herders, braved the harsh, unforgiving climate of the desert thanks to their domesticated llamas and alpacas as well as small-scale farming with what little water was available.
This site contains rock carvings made by the indigenous people of the desert over several centuries, most of which depict animals like llamas, alpacas, and flamingos. Some of the carvings are less easy to decipher, which makes sense given the natives’ penchant for inhaling hallucinogenic drugs like the San Pedro cactus, which they used for spiritual and religious purposes.
Valle de la Luna
This valley has a similarly extraterrestrial landscape, although it is more often compared to that of the moon rather than Mars.
Located at the foot of the Cordillera de la Sal (salt mountains), the valley is home to a wide range of different sand and rock formations of various colors and textures, forged over the course of millennia by wind and water. At least some areas of the valley were once saltwater lakes, which after drying up left behind a thick coat of white covering the ground.
Two particular highlights are Las Tres Marías, a group of three quartz and granite formations that look like man-made sculptures but in reality are the products of erosion caused by wind and salt, and the Gran Duna, a 130-foot (40 m) tall sand dune that offers sweeping views of the entire valley from its crest.
Salar de Atacama
About a half-hour’s drive south of the town of San Pedro is the Salar de Atacama, the third-largest salt flat in the world.
The flat, which covers 1,200 square miles (3,000 km2), was once the site of a huge saltwater lake, which evaporated and left behind nothing but its salt. In addition to its stunning scenery, the area is famous for its small lagoons, with such a high level of salinity that you float on the surface with no effort at all. Two of the best lagoons for swimming are Laguna Cejar and Laguna Piedra, which have a higher salt content than the Dead Sea. Continue a little deeper into the salt flat and visit Laguna Tebenquiche and the Ojos del Salar; seeing the sunset reflected in their surface is an unforgettable experience.
El Tatio Geysers
The El Tatio geysers are perhaps the highlight of a trip to the Atacama Desert, but they should be saved until one of your last days; with an altitude of 14,170 feet (4,320 m) above sea level, you should first give your body time to adjust in and around San Pedro, where the altitude is a mere 7,900 feet (2,407 m).
The geothermal field is the third-largest in the world and is best visited at the crack of dawn, when the geysers are most active.
This means braving the freezing temperatures, but you will be rewarded with an amazing show from the geysers, which will also warm you up as the boiling water turns to steam before your eyes.
Scientists believe that this environment may be an example of what Earth looked like in its first billion years of existence.
On your way back down from the geysers, you can stop for a panoramic view at the Vado Río Putana, a dip in some thermal baths at the Termas de Puritama, or a walk along the river at Cañón de Guatín, where you will pass by thousand-year-old cacti that reach a height of as much as 30 feet (10 m).
Garganta del Diablo
If you find yourself with an extra day in town without any expeditions planned, I recommend renting a bike and heading about twenty minutes northwest to the site known as Devil’s Throat, a long-running canyon carved into the desert rocks full of fun twists and turns.
Stargazing
As mentioned above, the Atacama Desert is one of the world’s premier destinations for stargazers and astronomers alike.
For tourists, numerous stargazing tours are available every night. Unfortunately, I cannot contribute anything further, as I happened to visit the desert during a full moon. Although the sight of the full moon illuminating the desert landscapes inspires awe, it is so bright that it completely blots out the stars from the sky. If you have flexibility with your dates, it’s worth checking the moon phase to be able to take full advantage of the stars.