Salinas Grandes

Jujuy Province, Argentina

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Salinas Grandes is a vast, otherworldly salt flat (salar) in the high Puna plateau of northwestern Argentina, straddling the provinces of Jujuy and Salta at an average altitude of 3,450 meters (11,320 feet) above sea level. Covering about 212 km² (82 sq mi) in Jujuy alone and forming one of the largest salt deserts in South America—ranked as the fourth-largest in the continent and among the world’s biggest—it is especially famous on the Jujuy side for its brilliant white, pristine surface and striking turquoise shallow pools that create a giant natural mirror to the sky, particularly after summer rains. The salt crust is up to 30–50 cm (12–20 inches) thick and formed over 5–10 million years from volcanic mineral-rich waters that became trapped in an endorheic basin and gradually evaporated, leaving behind layers of salt and creating the hexagonal patterns visible on the surface. Accessible via National Route 52, which crosses the Andes to Chile through the Paso de Jama, Salinas Grandes is one of Argentina’s Seven Natural Wonders and a major tourist destination where visitors walk on the salt, take colorful-photo tours, visit a small white chapel in the middle of the desert, and buy handmade salt crafts. The area is also economically important for its sodium, potassium and lithium brine deposits, though lithium extraction has sparked controversy among Indigenous communities over groundwater depletion and land rights.