Its environmental particularities make the place cold and dry throughout the year with temperatures ranging from -2º at night to 30º during the day in summer and -15º at night to 10º during the day in winter at 2800m; conversely, as altitude increases, the temperature begins to decrease.
The area is windy and sometimes supports violent gusts that exceed 200km/h. The Park’s water resources include numerous glaciers that cover an area of approximately 32km 2 , among which are the Güssfeldt Glaciers, Horcones Inferior and Superior, the Cows and Polish Glacier.
The melting of these icy giants pours its waters into the Upper and Lower Horcones Rivers, through the Horcones Ravine, and into the Vacas River through the Ravine of the same name. To a lesser extent, the area also receives the contribution of water in the form of mainly snowy precipitation, which reaches an annual average between 400-600mm.
The Aconcagua region is part of the Upper Mendoza River Basin, which supplies water for irrigation and human consumption to a population of more than 1,000,000 inhabitants.
The Andes Mountain Range, a product of the interaction of the Nazca and South American plates, rose approximately 25 million years ago, giving rise to remarkable relief relief, which is clearly expressed in the exuberant elevation of the highest mountain in the American Continent. , which is called a continuous and folded belt
The capricious forms of the landscape in this sector of the Central Andes, in the form of a “U”, are mainly due to the modeling of the ice bodies (glaciers) that later occupied most of the aforementioned valleys, until approximately 15,000 years ago. The Aconcagua Provincial Park is located to the west of the province of Mendoza, 180 km from its capital city, in the Department of Las Heras.
The Aconcagua Provincial Park is one of the 17 protected areas of the province of Mendoza, created by provincial law in 1983, and is open for ascent from November 15 until, generally, the Easter festivities.
Mount Aconcagua reaches 6,962 meters above sea level, making it the highest in America. Its imposing peaks, crowned by eternal glaciers, attract a large number of climbers from all over the world. In addition, important archaeological sites are found here.
The entrance routes to the Park are those of the Horcones River and the Vacas River, which reach the base of the hill where the main base camps are located: Plaza de Mulas and Plaza Argentina, respectively. The Park is accessed through International Route No. 7, from the town of Puente del Inca Aconcagua Guided Climb
The summit of Aconcagua, covered with eternal snow, which in Quechua means “Watchtower or Stone Sentinel”, is surrounded by other peaks that exceed 5,000 meters above sea level, for this reason this area is called “The Roof of America”.
Every year about 1,200,000 people visit the natural reserves of Mendoza, and the Aconcagua Provincial Park is one of the most visited. Within these thousands of tourists who visit this circuit each year, approximately 5,500 are keen athletes prepared to challenge the high mountains, who arrive motivated to try to summit Mount Aconcagua, the world’s second highest relative summit, behind Everest.
It is the main tourist destinations in Mendoza and is frequently the scene of sports activities and cultural events such as the Ritual del Vino, Americanto or the Festival de Cine de Altura, among others Climbing Aconcagua
In addition, the Aconcagua Provincial Park is located in an environment where a strong awareness and revaluation task is being carried out (Archaeology in Las Cuevas, Puente del Inca Planning, Qapaq Ñan-Camino Real Inca World Heritage Site), Tetra Communication System in High Mountain that further positions its tourist attraction. The natural area preserves glaciers, water basins, high Andean fauna and flora, and archaeological sites related to the Inca culture. In order to preserve the natural and cultural values of the area, Aconcagua was declared a Provincial Park in 1983. Being in the imposing setting of the Central Andes, it offers a
landscape of mountains of immense proportions and has peaks that exceed the
5000m, rising towards the open sky, until reaching its maximum expression in the
North summit of Cerro Aconcagua (6962m) Aconcagua Hike
Its long, deep valleys contain wide open spaces and endless views stretching into the distance. It also offers rapid and mighty rivers with brown or reddish colors, and sparkling white water streams that run down the slopes feeding small meadows and wetlands of green grasses.
Valle de los Horcones Interpretive Trail This trekking in Aconcagua can be done without a guide because it is the easiest