Segment Río de La Sal - Pampa del Inca and Segment Portal del Inca - Río de La Sal · 236 km
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
236 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 06
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
The stops in between: Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral, Segment Portal del Inca - Río de La Sal and back through Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 3,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Segment Río de La Sal - Pampa del Inca
Out here the Incas walked a road through country that most of us would call empty, and they did it without wheels, horses or a single petrol station. The stretch between the Río de la Sal and the Pampa del Inca is one of the Chilean pieces of the Qhapaq Ñan, the great Andean road network that tied Cusco to the far corners of the empire and was listed by UNESCO across six countries in 2014. In the Atacama region it shows up as a faint, dead-straight trace across gravel plains, sometimes edged with stones, sometimes marked by the low ruins of a tambo where runners and caravans once rested.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Río de La Sal - Pampa del Inca is where the day begins. Next is Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral.
2. Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral
The Atacama desert is the driest place on earth outside the poles, and the Inca crossed it on foot. The Qhapaq Ñan, the great Inca road system, included a southern branch that ran from Cusco down into what is now northern Chile, and this segment between Pampa del Inca and the farm of Chañaral lies in the region of Atacama, close to the town of Diego de Almagro. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the Qhapaq Ñan in 2014.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral comes up 40 km in. Next is Segment Portal del Inca - Río de La Sal.
3. Segment Portal del Inca - Río de La Sal
A long way up in the Atacama, where the desert climbs into the high Andes of northern Chile, a worn path crosses the landscape between a place called the Portal del Inca and the Río de la Sal, the salt river. It is a segment of the Qhapaq Ñan, the great network of Inca roads, which UNESCO listed in 2014 across six countries. In Chile the road went south from the Inca heartland, crossing passes of over four thousand metres to reach the valleys of Copiapó and beyond, and traces of it survive in the dry air with striking clarity: stone markers, small shelters and the line of the trail itself.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Segment Río de La Sal - Pampa del Inca. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Segment Río de La Sal - Pampa del Inca to Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral
Segment Río de La Sal - Pampa del Inca → Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral to Segment Portal del Inca - Río de La Sal
Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral → Segment Portal del Inca - Río de La Sal is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Portal del Inca - Río de La Sal to back through Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral
Segment Portal del Inca - Río de La Sal → back through Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral to Segment Río de La Sal - Pampa del Inca
back through Segment Pampa del Inca-Finca de Chañaral → Segment Río de La Sal - Pampa del Inca is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.