2 Best Sights in Barreal, Wine Regions

Book a wine tasting followed up by lunch or dinner using seasonal, regional ingredients at Los Dragones, one of a cluster of small wineries betting on this elevated yet remote corner of San Juan. If you’re sleeping over in Barreal, stay a little longer for the magnificent sunset over the vineyard that drops down behind the mountain. 

Twenty-two km (14 miles) south of Barreal on Ruta 412 toward Uspallata, a dirt road turns off into Reserva Natural El Leoncito (Little Lion Natural Reserve), a vast, rocky area with little vegetation. You can continue on this road for 17 km (11 miles) to the CASLEO observatory ( www.casleo.conicet.gov.ar), known for its exceptional stargazing.

Near the turnoff, on the western side of Ruta 412 at Pampa Leoncito, the sport of carrovelismo (land-sailing) is practiced during summer months in wheeled sand cars called wind yachts that can travel up to 150 kph (93 mph) across a cracked-clay lake bed.

An all-day drive (160 km/100 miles round-trip) in a 4x4 to Las Hornillas at 3,300 meters (9,500 feet) takes you along the Río Los Patos into a red rock–walled canyon. The road narrows, clinging to the canyon walls, as it winds around closed curves, eventually opening into a small valley where, in 1817, General San Martín's troops gathered before crossing the Andes over Los Patos Pass on one of his historic liberation campaigns.

A brief glimpse of Aconcagua looming in solitary splendor about 160 km (100 miles) south is a preview of coming attractions: four peaks over 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) tall are visible in the Ramada Range to the northwest: Polaco, Alma Negra, La Ramada, and Mercaderio. The last of these—rising to 6,770 meters (22,211 feet)—is the fourth-highest peak in the Americas. As the road winds ever higher, herds of guanacos graze on the steep slopes, pumas prowl in the bush, and condors soar above.