Jachal – Las Flores – Paso Agua Negra – Vicuña
Paso Agua Negra is the easiest of all the 4000m passes linking Argentina and Chile. The road surface is mostly paved, or good ripio (though road work is being done on both sides of the pass, so currently there are some short bad sections), the gradients are gentle, and the road is above 4000m for less than 35km – a far smaller distance than on all the high passes to the north.
A tunnel is proposed (at an altitude of about 4100m), so in the future the crossing will be much easier, particularly as it will all be paved. At present around 100 vehicles a day cross the pass, making it, along with Paso Jama, the busiest of the high Argentina-Chile routes.
Note that Paso Agua Negra is only open in summer – snows normally close the route between May and October. If you’re planning on crossing early or late in the season, check with the authorities beforehand that the road is still passable. This PDF (in Spanish) has loads of useful info: pasodeaguanegra.org/Guia.pdf
Dist (km) | Altitude (m) | Description |
---|---|---|
0 | 1160 | Jachal. Town with no internet. Paved. |
45.2 | 1610 | Straight. L goes to Rodeo. |
63.5 | 1890 | R to Agua Negra. L goes to Las Flores. |
64.8 | 1920 | Argentina Immigration. No water for the next 25km+. |
99.6 | 2930 | Gendarmeria Argentina. |
105 | 3170 | Ripio starts. |
113.4 | 3630 | Ojos de Agua, water. Regular sources after this. |
128.6 | 4280 | Turn off to tunnel (construction yet to begin). |
144 | 4610 | Last water this side of pass, in Quebrada de Sarmiento. |
149.7 | 4770 | Paso Agua Negra. Soon take the first of 3 ‘down’ shortcuts, which save many kms. If coming in the opposite direction you’ll want to stick to the ‘up’ tracks which are far less steep. |
157.4 | 4070 | First water and campsite on Chile side. Then lots of options. |
220.5 | 2090 | Chilean Immigration. Paving starts. |
262.1 | 1210 | Huanta. First village. Basic shop. |
290 | 860 | Rivadavia. Road becomes busy. |
307 | 630 | Vicuña. Town with regular buses to La Serena. |
Jachal – Vicuña | Details |
Distance (of which paved) | 307km (191km) |
Time taken | 3 days |
Amount climbed | 4200m |
Traffic | About 100 cars a day cross the pass. Between Rivadavia and Vicuña is very busy. |
Best time to cycle | December – March. (The pass is normally open November – May.) |
When we cycled | February 2014 |
Difficulty | 3 |
How much we had to push on this route | Not at all. |
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