Mountain bike adventure in Villavicencio Nature Reserve

Our tour begins with a land transfer by vehicle on International Route 7.
This route passes by the Potrerillos Reservoir, which forms a lake of crystal-clear meltwater between the mountains. A true postcard.
Here we make a brief stop of approximately 10 minutes to take photos
The travel time from Mendoza to Potrerillos is approximately 50 minutes

On the way, we also pass through Uspallata, a valley between the Andes mountain range and the Andes foothills, which is of great importance since it is the point with the most infrastructure on the way to the border with Chile.
Here we also make a stop of approximately 10 minutes to use the public toilets, since from here on we only find nature and mountains without any infrastructure.
The duration of this journey, from Potrerillos to Uspallata is approximately 50 minutes.

At this point we begin our bike ride.
These abandoned mines date back to the 17th century, when gold and silver mining began.
On the site we find remains of old stone buildings and you can still see some of the tunnels to enter the mines. During the heyday, more than 4,500 people lived here, forming a true mining town at more than 3,400 meters above sea level.
The landscape is impressive and because of the height you have a unique view of the Andes Mountains. We can even see Cerro Aconcagua, the highest mountain on the American continent at 6,960 meters.
Here we get on our bikes to begin a unique ride, in the middle of a scenic grandeur, which is not easy to find in the world.

This is the highest point of our bike tour, 3100 m.a.s.l.
Here we find a wooden cross that commemorates the place where the Jesuits, around the year 1700, began to exploit the mines and built a small stone chapel, whose high cross gave its name to the place.

Continuing with our bike tour, we enter this magnificent natural reserve.
A place full of history, since it was where part of the army of our greatest hero, General Don José de San Martin, passed through on the way to the liberation of Chile and Peru.
A place full of fauna and flora, where we can see a herd of guanacos, foxes, black eagles, hares, and the majestic Andean condor.
A place full of landscape, nature, and silence.
This is also the moment where we begin to descend along the snail road, with approximately 365 curves. We begin at 2900 meters above sea level and go down to 1100 meters above sea level, on a unique scenic route, crossing different biodiversity environments: Monte, Cardonal, Puna.
Arriving at the Old Hotel in Villavicencio, our bike tour ends.
At this point, we have a transfer by vehicle to the city of Mendoza