Why this ride
A river-valley corridor with linked bends, escarpments and settlement access. It links naturally to Calchaqui Valleys.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Quebrada de las Conchas starting at Salta
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 189 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 08
- 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.
Editorial context
Coordinates are curated start-via-end route seeds. They are not a surveyed centreline or navigation geometry. Run road snapping, topology checks, access checks and a live-status review before publication.
Access context
Do not auto-publish. Snap to a routable road network, verify current closures, legal motorcycle access, surface, permits, border controls and local safety information.
Seasonal context
Apr-Nov
Scenic road chapters
Ruta 40 Argentina North to South
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 26 km this is Ruta 40 Argentina North to South, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 26 km
- Named road
- Ruta 40 Argentina North to South
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Salta
Salta calls itself La Linda, the beautiful, and the old centre makes a decent case for it. The city lies in a green valley in the far north-west of Argentina, about twelve hundred metres above the sea, with the Andes to the west and the humid forest edge to the east. The Spanish founded it in 1582, and the colonial core still shows it, with the cathedral's pink facade, the arcaded cabildo on the main plaza and the cafés underneath the verandahs. In the evening the plaza fills with families, buskers and street food, and the empanadas salteñas, small and juicy with beef, are an essential meal.
Read the complete Salta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Salta sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Quebrada de las Conchas.
2. Quebrada de las Conchas
The Quebrada de las Conchas is a canyon cut by the Río de las Conchas through the red rock of the Calchaquí valleys, in Salta province, and the road that follows it, Ruta 68, is one of the great scenic rides in Argentina. The rock is sedimentary, laid down in ancient seas and lakes and later uplifted and eroded by wind and water, so that it stands in curved layers of red, orange, pink and ochre. Over time, the elements have carved it into shapes that have been given names: the Devil's Throat, a narrow gorge, the Amphitheatre, a vast natural bowl with extraordinary acoustics, and the Castles, a row of jagged towers.
Read the complete Quebrada de las Conchas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Quebrada de las Conchas comes up 82 km in. 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
189 km in you reach Cafayate.
Recorded source links
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Quebrada de las Conchas · 219 km
- Quebrada de las Conchas (401 km) · 401 km
- Valles Calchaquies (390 km) · 314 km
- Cafayate to Cachi Ruta 40 · 156 km