Argentina
Dunas de Tatón
Sand dunes rise over a thousand metres at the foot of the Andes where nobody goes.
The Dunas de Tatón in Catamarca Province are the largest sand dunes in South America at 100 metres high, rising from the base of the Andes at 4,000 metres in the Puna de Atacama — a landscape so dry, so remote, and so visually specific that it has been used as a film location for productions set in the Sahara and the Atacama. The nearest village is Fiambalá, 37 kilometres below in the Fiambalá Valley; above the dunes, the Andean peaks exceed 6,000 metres. There is nothing between them but sand and silence.
The Dunas de Tatón are a field of aeolian sand dunes located at 3,800-4,200 metres altitude in the Puna de Atacama of Catamarca Province, formed by wind-transported sand derived from the volcanic and sedimentary deposits of the surrounding puna. At their highest, the dunes reach 100 metres — the tallest in South America — and the active dune field covers approximately 40 square kilometres. The extreme altitude, aridity, and temperature range (from -15°C at night to +30°C at midday) produce physical conditions that are the most desert-like in Argentina. Access is via a dirt road from Fiambalá that gains 3,000 metres in 37 kilometres, with the final section requiring a high-clearance 4WD; sandboarding and ATV access have been operated commercially from Fiambalá since 2000. The dunes are adjacent to the Paso de San Francisco, which connects to Chile at one of the highest paved border crossings in the Andes.
Solo
The Dunas de Tatón at 4,000 metres — the largest sand dunes in South America, with the Andes above them and the valley floor 3,000 metres below — produce a landscape that is simply unclassifiable in terms of what it feels like to be there. The altitude, the dunes, and the volcanic peaks in every direction are not separately extreme; they are simultaneously extreme.
Couple
The sandboarding at Tatón — descending 100-metre dunes on a board at 4,000 metres of altitude, with the Andes as the backdrop — is sufficiently absurd and sufficiently physical to be genuinely memorable. The drive from Fiambalá through the Andean approach road is a significant experience before the dunes are reached.
Friends
A group tackling the Dunas de Tatón on sandboards, followed by the descent to Fiambalá's thermal springs for recovery, covers the extremes of the Catamarca experience in a single day: the highest, driest, coldest landscape in the province in the morning; the volcanic thermal pools in the afternoon.
- The dunes reach 100m in height and extend 30km through a valley between Andean ridges — unknown outside Argentina.
- The sand is finer and paler than coastal dunes — deposited by ancient rivers that flowed from the Andes before the course changed.
- Sandboarding is possible on the steepest faces — locals hire boards and offer guided ascents from Fiambalá.
- The access road requires 4WD — the dune field begins where the valley narrows and the mountains close in.
Empanadas catamarqueñas and a thermos of mate are the only provisions in a landscape without a single shop.
Cabrito asado at the nearest village, Fiambalá, rewards the sand-blasted return.
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