El Nogalar de los Toldos Natural Reserve
Choose your own way to enjoy this flora and fauna paradise in the high-altitude forest.
Are you ready to live an adventure in the heart of nature? Discover two of the less-visited environments in the yungas [mountain forest] of Salta: the high grasslands and the mountain forest. Find them at El Nogalar de los Toldos and explore this river basin where the Huaico Grande river is born. Do you feel like walking? Step along the Livestock Transhumance Trail, enjoy its recreational area, and get to the panoramic point that offers you a privileged view of the river.
Travel around the mountain forest covered with walnut trees. Look at cedars and alders, queñoas and pinos del cerro. Do you love wildlife watching? Discover the red squirrel and the local deer or taruca. Follow the tracks of pumas and brockets, peccaries and skunks, ferrets and gray foxes, lizards and yungas red-bellied toads. Listen to the singing of birds, such as the rufescent tiger heron, the rufous-throated dipper, and the large kingfisher. Live it all in the province of Salta.
Geographic location: Province of Salta, north of Argentina.
How to get there: By car, from the city of Salta, drive north along Ruta Nacional 9, entering the province of Jujuy. Then take Ruta Nacional 50, re-enter Salta and, in Aguas Blancas, reach the border with Bolivia. Cross it and drive along Ruta 1 until you reach the city of Los Toldos, from where you can access the park.
Area: 3,275 hectares. Altitude: over 2,500 meters above sea level.
Climate: Subtropical with a dry season. Summer is the rainy season. It usually snows in the colder months (from June to September).
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days.
What to do: Wildlife watching, hiking, camping.
Tips: take the documentation required to cross the border with Bolivia. Travel by day to enjoy the landscapes and to drive more safely, as the winding roads make the journey more difficult.