8 Best Sights in El Norte Grande, Chile

About 10 km (6 miles) south of San Pedro you arrive at the edge of Chile's largest salt flat. The rugged crust measuring 3,000 square km (1,158 square miles) formed when salty water flowing down from the Andes evaporated in the stifling heat of the desert. Unlike other salt flats, which are smooth surfaces of crystalline salt, the Salar de Atacama is a jumble of jagged rocks that look rather like coral. Laguna Chaxa, in the middle of Salar de Atacama, is a very salty lagoon that is home to three of the New World's four species of flamingos. The elegant pink-and-white birds are mirrored by the lake's glassy surface. Near Laguna Chaxa, beautiful plates of salt float on the calm surface of Laguna Salada. Visiting the salar is a half-day excursion from San Pedro and often better at sunset when the sky can paint pretty pink colors, reflected in the mirrorlike lagoons. Arrive early before the crowds scare off the birds, and bring your binoculars.

This surreal landscape of barren ridges, soaring cliffs, sand dunes, and pale valleys could be from a canvas by Salvador Dalí. Originally a small corner of a vast inland sea, the valley rose up with the Andes. The water slowly drained away, leaving deposits of salt and gypsum that were folded by the shifting of the Earth's crust and then worn away by wind and rain. The vastness and grandeur of some of the formations is quite breathtaking, and listening carefully to the cracking of the salt crystals as the sun warms up and cools down the surfaces is awe-inspiring. Visiting the Valle de la Luna is fabulous at sunset, although this is also when truckloads of tourists arrive. So if you want the valley to yourself, visit in the morning when there is barely a soul there. You can visit by car, bike (bring a big hat for shade!), or horseback.

To the west of the square is one of the altiplano's largest churches. It was miraculously constructed in 1744 without the use of a single nail—the builders used cactus sinews to tie the roof beams and door hinges.

Just 3 km (2 miles) north of San Pedro lies this ancient fortress at the entrance to the Valle de Catarpe, which was built in the 12th century to protect the Atacameños from invading Incas. It wasn't the Incas but the Spanish who were the real threat, however. Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia took the fortress by force in 1540. The crumbling buildings were carefully reconstructed in 1981 and declared a national monument in 1982.

More than 14,000 feet high, Salar de Tara has some similarities to the Altiplánico Lakes, but what makes it unique is the unusual rock formations that appear like castles in the sky, surreal sculptures among the sand flats, and flamingo-spotted lagoons. It is a full day from San Pedro on the way to Bolivia, and involves a long and bumpy road both ways.

It's possible to take a three to five-day, four-wheel-drive organized tour from San Pedro into Bolivia's massive and mysterious salt flat, the largest in the world. Beware: the accommodations—usually clapboard lodgings in small oasis towns—are rustic to say the least, but speeding along the Salar de Uyuni, which is chalkboard flat, is a treat. Nearby are geysers, small Andean lagoons, and islands of cactus that stand in sharp contrast to the sealike salt flat.

This archaeological site, 9 km (6 miles) southwest of San Pedro, marks the remains of the oldest known civilization in the region. Built around 800 BC, the village of Tulor was home to the Linka Arti people, who lived in small mud huts resembling igloos. The site was uncovered only in the middle of the 20th century, when Jesuit missionary Gustavo Le Paige excavated it from a sand dune. Archaeologists hypothesize that the inhabitants left because of climatic changes and a possible sandstorm. Little more about the village's history is known, and only one of the huts has been completely excavated. As one of the well-informed guides will tell you, even this hut is sinking back into the obscurity of the Atacama sand.

Not far from the Valle de la Luna, just on the other side of Ruta 98 leading to Calama, are the reddish rocks of the Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley). Jesuit missionary Gustavo Le Paige, who in the 1950s was the first archaeologist to explore this desolate area, discovered many human skeletons. These bones are from the Indigenous Atacameño people, who lived here before the arrival of the Spanish. He hypothesized that the sick and the elderly may have come to this place to die. The name of the valley comes from its red Mars-like appearance and was originally called Valle de Martes (Mars Valley), but Gustavo's foreign pronunciation of Martes (Mars) was heard as Muerte (dead).