Potrero de los Funes

Potrero de los Funes is a reservoir set in a bowl of the San Luis sierras, its water dark green against wooded slopes, and it has long been the weekend escape for the provincial capital. What makes it unusual is the road: the six-kilometre loop around the lake was upgraded into a full racing circuit, hosting international touring car and Superleague Formula events in the late 2000s, and outside race dates it functions as an ordinary public road with pit buildings and grandstands standing beside the water. Visitors drive or cycle the loop, hire kayaks and pedal boats, walk trails into the hills, and eat at restaurants along the shore. A hotel and a small resort area sit at the lake's edge.

What you actually see

• The lake circuit - the loop road around the water, a former racing venue.
• The reservoir - dark green water in a bowl of wooded sierra hills.
• The pit buildings - grandstands and racing infrastructure by the shore.
• The hill trails - walks and viewpoints above the lake.

When to go

October to April for warm weather and water activities; summer weekends are crowded with visitors from San Luis. Autumn is quiet and pleasant. Winter mornings are cold and the resort area is subdued.

Honest expectations

The setting is pretty rather than spectacular, and the racing infrastructure looks tired between events. Weekend crowds and traffic on the loop can be heavy. Swimming areas are limited and services concentrate at one end of the lake.

Nearby

San Luis city is twenty minutes southwest; La Carolina and the northern sierras lie beyond.