Valle del Encanto
Hundreds of carvings and grinding hollows in a dry ravine, made by people who used it for a thousand years.
Saved in this browser only - no account, nothing sent anywhere. See your map
The Valle del Encanto is a shallow granite ravine west of Ovalle carrying several hundred petroglyphs, pictographs and piedras tacitas - the cup-shaped hollows ground into flat rock for processing food - left by people occupying the valley from roughly 2000 BC and most strongly associated with the El Molle culture of the first millennium AD. The best known carvings are large human heads with elaborate rayed and tiered headdresses, cut into boulders on the valley floor. It was declared a national monument in 1973. Unusually for rock art, the carvings here read most clearly around midday when the sun is high.
What you actually see
- Hundreds of petroglyphs - on boulders through a granite ravine.
- Human heads with rayed headdresses - the site's characteristic figures.
- Piedras tacitas - ground hollows used for processing food.
- Best at midday - unlike most rock art, which needs low light.
When to go
Year round, around the middle of the day for the carvings. Two to three hours.
Honest expectations
There is no shade and it is hot in summer. Touching or chalking the carvings is prohibited and has damaged them in the past. Facilities are minimal. The track in is gravel.
Nearby
Ovalle is east; Fray Jorge national park is west towards the coast.
What to pack for Valle del Encanto
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.