- Address: Plazoleta perpendicular a kilómetro 4510, Barrio Nuevo-localidad CP 4415, RN40, Payogasta, Salta
- Area: 641.17 sq. M. km
- Phone: +54 3868 496 005
- E-mail: loscardones@apn.gov.ar
- Year of foundation: 1996
- Opening hours: 9:30 am to 6:00 pm daily
- Entrance fee: free entrance
Los Cardons - National Park in Argentina , 100 km from the city of Salta , the capital of the province of the same name. The park occupies 65 thousand hectares. Los Cardons was officially opened in November 1996. Negotiations on its creation and resolution of legal issues related to the alienation of land began 10 years before.
The name of the park was received in honor of cactus cardon - these plants occupy the leading place among all representatives of the reserve flora. At one time there was a road leading to the Enchanted Valley of the Inca Empire, and high "candelabra", according to beliefs, guarded the road and protected from strangers.
Flora National Park
Despite the fact that Los Cardons is relatively young, and its infrastructure has not yet developed (there are no campsites, restaurants and other things that make excursions more pleasant in the park), its unique nature attracts more and more eco-tourism enthusiasts every year.
The difference in heights in the park ranges from 2,400 m in the south to 5,030 - in the north-east. Due to such a zone, four natural zones can be observed on this territory:
- Pune is a highland desert. The main species of vegetation here are xerophilous shrubs, turf grasses (fescue, feather grass, reed grass). Trees are extremely rare.
- Prepune are low-growing trees (legumes, acacia cava, tamaruto) and shrubs, mostly xerophytic. There is a lot of shrubby ragweed growing in the shade of which colonoid cacti grow: the waxy substance that covers the leaves of ambrosia, prevents evaporation of moisture from both the leaves of ambrosia itself and cacti.
- Paramos are moist high-mountain meadows; They are located only in the area of the Enchanted Valley. Here grow hard-leafed shrubs, xerophilous cereals, some kinds of fungi - in short, plants that tolerate high humidity, fog and low temperatures in the morning.
- The northwest Andes are the largest phytogeographic zone of the national park. The dominant plants here are the Yaril, and under their leaves hide from the sun cacti. Different varieties of cacti grow almost throughout the park.
Fauna of Los Cardons Park
As for the fauna, here you can find Andean and South American foxes, piggy eastern skunks, guanacos, vicuñas, cougars, Geoffrey cats, white possums possums, degus, long-haired armadillos, mountain viscas and many other animals. More than a hundred species of birds have been recorded in the park, including a cactus woodpecker, several species of pigeons, a giant hummingbird, many species of parrots, a hawk, a red-winged tinama, and a symbol of the Andean condor. You can see here and rare birds such as Topakolo and canistero.
Inhabit in the park and reptiles: a lot of snakes (including the Andean snake), lizards, the Paraguayan ("piranh") caiman is found in the rivers.
How to get to Los Cardonas National Park?
In Salto, you can easily travel from Buenos Aires and other major cities in Argentina by public transport . From here you can get to the park by car on RN68 and RP33 in about 2.5 hours.
The park runs daily, however, on religious holidays it is closed, or the work time may change. Los Cardones accepts visitors all year round, but the best time to visit this region of Argentina is from April to November. In summer it is too hot here, which makes long walking tours heavy and exhausting.