Parque Nacional Calilegua

Parque Nacional Calilegua in Jujuy Province is Argentina's largest subtropical mountain forest park — a vertical gradient of 800 to 5,000 metres that passes through five distinct ecosystems in less than 40 kilometres, from the hot lowland yungas jungle to the high-altitude cloud forest to the puna grasslands above the cloud line. The park protects the last contiguous tract of Yungas forest in Jujuy Province, and the biodiversity density at the transition zones between the ecosystems is measurable: the same ridge holds birds and mammals specific to each zone within 500 metres of elevation.

Parque Nacional Calilegua covers 76,000 hectares of Jujuy Province and protects the Argentine sector of the Yungas — a subtropical montane forest that runs continuously from Bolivia through northwestern Argentina, and which represents one of the most biodiverse biomes in the western hemisphere for mammals, birds, and reptiles. The park's vertebrate fauna includes jaguars (present in the lower yungas), tapirs, peccaries, bush dogs, giant anteaters, 320 bird species (including the harpy eagle), and the spectacled bear — the only bear species in South America, classified as vulnerable. The road through the park from Valle Grande to Calilegua ascends from 800 to 4,000 metres through cloud forest where the trees are covered in bromeliads, orchids, and ferns, and where the cloud cover is so persistent that many species exist within a vertical range of 200 metres and no more. The park's trail system is minimal — the primary access is the provincial road — and backcountry camping requires a permit.