Why this ride
A named mountain-road corridor with sustained elevation change and pass scenery. It links naturally to Lauca National Park and Qhapaq Nan vicinity.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Arica Putre and Lake Chungara
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 193 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 39
- 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
Putre → Lake Chungara
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 42 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 42 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Arica
Arica is Chile's northernmost city, a port of nearly two hundred thousand people just a short drive from the Peruvian border, and its nickname, the city of eternal spring, reflects a mild, dry climate that hardly changes through the year. The city sits at the foot of El Morro, a massive headland that was the scene of a famous battle during the War of the Pacific in 1880, when Chilean forces took the fortress from Peru. After that, the city's fate was disputed for decades, until a treaty in 1929 confirmed it as Chilean.
Read the complete Arica write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Arica sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Putre.
2. Putre
Putre is a small Aymara village high in the Andes, at about 3,500 metres above sea level, and it is the gateway to Lauca National Park and the high plateau. The village sits on a green terrace above a deep valley, with stone houses, narrow streets and a small, whitewashed church that dates from the seventeenth century. The surrounding hills are dotted with old agricultural terraces that have been farmed for centuries, and the people here, many of them Aymara, graze llamas and alpacas on the high pastures. After the dry desert of the coast, the green of the fields comes as a shock.
Read the complete Putre write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Putre comes up 64 km in. Next is Lake Chungara.
3. Lake Chungará
Lake Chungará lies at about 4,500 metres on the Chilean Altiplano, close to the Bolivian border, and it is one of the highest lakes in the world. The water is deep blue, the shore is fringed with pale grass and the sky seems very close. Behind it rise the twin volcanoes of Parinacota and Pomerape, both over six thousand metres, their cones white against the dark blue, and the sight of Parinacota reflected in the still water of the lake is one of the best-known images in the Andes.
Read the complete Lake Chungara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
193 km in you reach Lake Chungara.