Main Characteristics

National Route 40 starts at Cabo Vírgenes, Santa Cruz, and it covers more than 5100 kilometres of a mystic journey framed by old Inca trails, up to La Quiaca, in the province of Jujuy.

In the same sense as route 66 is to Americans, route 40 somehow represents an Argentinean emblem.

It crosses some of the most important tourist destinations in the country and it offers a quick access to them. It access 14 National Parks, and 26 Nature Reserves and Provincial Parks. It connects with 41 International Border Crossings, it goes through 11 provinces, and 5 sites declared “World Heritage,” 23 ski centres, it crosses 18 major rivers and countless secondary rivers. It crosses 236 bridges, it goes past almost 23 salt pans and lakes, and it crosses more than 200 cities, towns, and locations.

This impressive journey defines it as the longest route in the country running parallel to the majestic Andes Mountain Range, the backbone of Argentina.

Its path is filled with an incredible magic, which becomes true as we travel across its length, growing from sea level, until it crosses Abra del Acay 4895 metres above sea level, which places it as the tallest National Route in America.

It covers some of the most beautiful regions in Argentina, crossing Patagonia, Cuyo, the North, and the Puna Region, where camping, trekking, fishing, big game hunting, white water rafting, biking, kayaking, climbing, skiing, and speleology are synonyms of Adventure Tourism.

Route 40 is not completely paved yet, for this reason, while going round it you will go through three different types of road.  Not only climate affects its appearance, in some stretches solitude accompanies the traveler, as it is possible to travel many kilometres without passing by another vehicle.

Among its different settings, the person travelling through it gets to come close to the land of dinosaurs, to caves with unique pictographs of over nine thousand years old, majestic glaciers, or underground caverns of indescribable beauty and colours.