Villa Dolores to Copina

Villa Dolores – Cura Brochero – Benegas – Copina – RP14


This very scenic route is away from the Andes but still in the hills, in the lovely Sierras de Cordoba. Most of it is on well engineered old ripio roads which are barely used any more, but from La Posta to El Condor the route is on the horribly busy RN20 for 15kms. It is possible to avoid most of this section on the main road however by taking a detour on a dirt road to the north.

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Total dist. Stage dist. Description
0km Villa Dolores. Large town with accommodation, ATMs, supermarkets etc. Nice campsites by the river in Barrio Piedra Pintada 7kms from the town centre.
49.4km Head north from Plaza Mitre. The tarmac soon ends. 2.9kms from the Plaza go straight at a junction (main road goes R), and follow this road 15.6kms to the small settlement of Altautina (680m). Climb for over 10kms to a high point (~1,000m) then descend slightly to some houses at Cienaga de Allende, 14.6kms from Altautina. About 0.7kms after Cienaga de Allende turn R at a junction and in 4.9kms arrive in tiny Pozo de Algarrobo. Go straight at the junction here and in 10.7kms arrive in Cura Brochero. Surface all unpaved, but ok.
49.4kms Cura Brochero (910m). Town with lots of campsites and other tourist facilities.
27.6km Head towards San Lorenzo and 1.2kms from the Plaza in Cura Brochero go L at a roundabout. 0.6kms from here go R onto an unpaved road (signposted Benegas). After 4.5kms of climbing go straight at a junction and 8.1kms of climbing later arrive in the touristy little village of Villa Benegas (1,350m). Continue climbing for 13.2kms to the main road. Road is a bit rough in places.
77.0km Hit main RN20 (2,000m).
14.6km Busy main road. Climb 3.9kms to police post at La Posta, then carry on to a high point at 2,240m. Some descending to do to the turn off to Copina.
91.6km Turn-off (2,130m) onto old Copina road.
19.5km Initial climb, then all descent to Copina, a small village 16.5kms from the main road. Road surface is terrible, and we had to push some short sections of this beautiful old road despite it being downhill. 3kms after Copina arrive at the tarmac on RP14.
111.1km Junction (1,400m). Join RP14.
Details
Time taken – 2 days and
amount climbed – 2,210m
4 hours: Villa Dolores – Cura Brochero (740m climb).
7 hours: Cura Brochero – RP14 (1,470m climb).
Traffic Little on the unpaved roads, lots on busy RN20.
When we cycled Early March 2011.
Difficulty 2
How much we had to push on this route A tiny amount

Nearby routes:        Atos Pampa to La Cruz

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