Ischigualasto Provincial Park (Valle de la Luna) in Argentina 2024
Argentina's Moon Valley is an unearthly treasure and a must-see attraction!
Best time: April–November
Our planet has a place whose surface closely resembles the surface of Mars or the Moon. Such an unusual area is in the north-west of Argentina, in the province of San Juan called the Ischigualasto Provincial Park or the second unofficial name—"Valle de la Luna" (Valley of the Moon).
Valley of the Moon is a paleontological center, a geological formation, and a natural national park. Previously the park was rich in minerals, and now the valley is most interesting for paleontologists, scientists, and researchers. Scientists have found many remains of plants and animals, dinosaurs, and other reptiles with evolutionary relationships with the first dinosaurs that lived here some 250 million years ago. The remains of 54 different types of dinosaurs have been found in this park. The park has a museum where you can see the bones of dinosaurs or full reconstructed layouts.
The terrain of the Ischigualasto Provincial Park contains many unusual formations that seemingly arose from a science fiction movie about space worlds—unusual stones, holes, pillars and columns, sand mounds, and boulders. Travellers are attracted to this kind of harsh arid landscape park by the various bizarre mountain formations in the form of pillars, mushrooms, and other "sculptures" of natural origin and also beautiful pink rocky cliffs up to 200 meters high.
The best time to visit the Ischigualasto Provincial Park is from April to November. December to March are the rainy months, and you may find some roads impassable during that time. Bizarre landscapes of the Moon Valley are said to be especially amazing under the full moon.
