Why this ride
A one-way ride of 158 km, Cachí to Cafayate - roughly 3 h 47 in the saddle. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 3,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Valles Calchaquies: Cachi to Cafayate
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 158 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 47
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cachi
Cachí sits at around 2,300 metres in the Calchaquí valleys of Salta province, and everything about it seems to have been made quiet by altitude and dryness. White adobe houses line narrow streets, the plaza is shaded by trees, and the church has a roof and doors made from the wood of the cardón, a tall columnar cactus that grows on the slopes around. The backdrop is the Nevado de Cachi, a snow-capped peak in the range that stands above 6,000 metres.
Read the complete Cachi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cachi is where the day begins. Next is Molinos.
2. Molinos
Molinos sits at the bottom of a dry, wide valley in the province of Salta, about two thousand metres above the sea, with the Calchaquí mountains standing around it in bands of rust and ochre. The river that made the valley is mostly a braid of stones for most of the year, and the green is confined to a thin ribbon of poplars, vineyards and walled fields along it. Cachí is the nearest proper settlement to the north, roughly forty kilometres off, and Cafayate lies a long day's gentle riding to the south.
Read the complete Molinos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Molinos comes up about 46 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cafayate.
3. Cafayate
Cafayate is a wine town at about sixteen hundred metres in the Calchaquí valleys of Salta province, in the dry north-west of Argentina, and it is the reward at the end of a long ride south. After days of high desert, salt flats and unpaved passes, you come down into a flat valley full of vines and suddenly there is shade, cold white wine and a plaza where people sit for hours. The mountains stand on both sides, brown and bare, and the light is so clear that distances seem shorter than they are.
Read the complete Cafayate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 158 km.
Leg by leg
Cachi to Molinos
Cachi → Molinos is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Molinos to Cafayate
Molinos → Cafayate is 112 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Cafayate to Cachi Ruta 40 · 156 km
- Valles Calchaquies (390 km) · 314 km
- Quebrada de las Conchas starting at Salta · 189 km