Aconcagua Park

Aconcagua Provincial Park is located approximately 190 kilometers away from Mendoza City and only 12 kilometers away from the border with the Republic of Chile.

It is internationally known because it is the home of Mount Aconcagua, which, with 6,962 meters above sea level, is the highest mountain of the American Continent and of the South Hemisphere. The park covers an extension of 71,000 protected hectares, where there are large glaciers that act as important water reserves.

The park has two accesses from where to start the ascension to Mount Aconcagua. One of them is through Vacas Valley, located in the area of Punta de Vacas at 2,450 meters above sea level; and the other one, more famous and with better facilities, is through Horcones Valley, at 2,800 meters above sea level.

The area is typically arid and rocky, with eternally snowed peaks and little vegetation above 4,000 meters of height. At 2,800 meters, the temperature varies between 30ºC and -2ºC in summer and between 10ºC and -15 ºC in winter. As you go up, the temperatures become more extreme, reaching points which are sometimes lower than -30°C in the summit.

Thousands of mountaineers visit this park every year to try to reach its summit. But it is not only open for these people; there are varied trekking programs within the park which will allow you to go through the beautiful landscapes of the Andes.

You can go, wearing regular clothes, up to the impressive Horcones Lagoon. If you want to move further in, you will have to wear trekking equipment so as to endure the long walks which will lead you to Plaza de Mulas or Plaza Francia.

The ascension and trekking permits which are required must be personally acquired in the city of Mendoza.