El Palmar National Park

El Palmar was created to save the yatay palm, a species that once formed vast groves across Entre Ríos and neighbouring Uruguay and Brazil before cattle and agriculture stopped its regeneration almost everywhere else. Inside the park, palms stand across open grassland in their thousands, some over three hundred years old and reaching eighteen metres, and at sunset their silhouettes against the sky are the image most visitors take away. Trails run to the Uruguay river shore, to streams with quiet swimming spots, and past the ruins of an old lime kiln and quarry. Capybaras, foxes, vizcachas and rheas are common, and the birdlife is excellent. A campsite and visitor centre sit inside the park.

What you actually see

• The palm savanna - thousands of yatay palms across open grassland.
• The river shore - the Uruguay river beach and swimming areas.
• The lime kiln ruins - remains of a nineteenth-century quarry and works.
• The wildlife - capybaras, rheas, vizcachas and abundant birds.

When to go

March to November for comfortable walking; summer is hot, humid and heavy with insects, though the river swimming is welcome then. Sunrise and sunset are when the palms photograph best. The park is busiest in the January holidays.

Honest expectations

The park is flat and its interest is the palms and wildlife rather than dramatic scenery; visitors expecting variety may find it monotonous. Shade is scarce away from the campsite. Ticks and mosquitoes are a real nuisance in warm months.

Nearby

Colón lies south; Concordia and the Salto Grande lake are north.