The Cuesta del Obispo is one of the great roads of northern Argentina, a gravel and tarmac climb that crosses the Sierra del Obispo between Salta and the Calchaquí valleys. The summit, called Piedra del Molino, is at 3,348 metres, high enough to feel the thin air, and the views are enormous. The road is named after a bishop of Salta who is said to have crossed here, and the name has lasted longer than his story.
It climbs from the green, wooded valley of Chicoana in a series of tight switchbacks, passing through cloud forest and then into drier, rockier country where the vegetation shrinks to scrub and bunch grass. Higher up, it enters the Los Cardones National Park, where huge candelabra cactus, the cardones that give the park its name, stand on the slopes like sentinels, some of them hundreds of years old. The light at this altitude is clear and hard, and the colours of the rocks, red, orange and ochre, are extraordinary.
Beyond the summit lies the Recta del Tin Tin, a perfectly straight road of about nineteen kilometres across a high, flat plain, with cardones on both sides and the mountains in the distance. It is one of those places that stays in the mind, a straight line drawn across the sky. Beyond it, the road leads on to Cachi, a whitewashed village with an adobe church and a mountain view.
The surface varies. The route is partly paved and partly gravel, with sections that can be rough, so check conditions before you go, and take it slowly on the switchbacks, where loose stones and sharp turns need respect. Weather changes quickly: fog can fill the pass, and in winter, ice and occasional snow can close the road. Fuel is in Chicoana or Salta, so fill up there, as the Calchaquí valleys have few stations and supplies can run out.
Bring warm clothes, water and a bit of patience for the altitude. Go slowly, stop often, and enjoy a road that feels like the top of the world.