Campo de Piedra Pómez

The Campo de Piedra Pómez is a vast bed of pumice thrown out by an ancient eruption of the Blanco volcano and spread across the puna at around 3,000 metres, where wind and sand have since carved it into a labyrinth of pale ridges, fins, arches and hollows. The stone is so light it floats and so soft that the wind sculpts it into shapes that change over decades, and the whole field, several kilometres across, reads like a white sea frozen mid-wave, framed by black volcanic cones and rust-coloured dunes. Walking into it, the scale becomes clear: passages between formations run deeper than a person's height, and the surfaces are pitted and fluted. It is one of the strangest landscapes in the country and remains almost unvisited.

What you'll find

• The pumice labyrinth - ridges, fins and passages of white wind-carved stone.
• The black volcanoes - dark cones framing the white field.
• The dunes - drifts of pale volcanic sand along the edges.
• The silence - an empty basin with no vegetation and no water.

When to go

April to November for reliable tracks; wind is strongest in the afternoon, so morning visits are more comfortable. Low sun at either end of the day shows the shapes best. Trips run from El Peñón and from Antofagasta de la Sierra.

Things to know

Access is by rough track that needs a capable vehicle and, sensibly, a local guide, since it is easy to lose orientation in the formations. There is no shade, water or shelter. Pumice is abrasive and fragile, and climbing on the formations damages them.

Nearby

El Peñón is the nearest village and Antofagasta de la Sierra, about 60 km north, the larger base; the Galán caldera lies further out on the puna.

Key facts