Top Ten Argentina Off-the-Beaten-Path Adventures

In northwestern San Luis province, the vermilion sandstone canyons and dry playas of Las Quijadas make for one of Argentina's most rewarding off-the-beaten-path destinations. In ongoing research projects, paleontologists from New York's Museum of Natural History and the Universidad Nacional de San Luis have discovered dinosaur tracks and other fossils dating from the late Cretaceous, more than 100 million years ago; there are also Huarpe archaeological sites in the park. One of the principal investigators leads hiking excursions from his base in the city of San Luis, about 70 miles away. Local guides are also available on site, where there's a public campground and a snack bar with cold drinks and simple meals. Summer can be dangerously hot, and canyon country is a maze where it's possible to get lost.