1-day hiking tour in the Atacama Desert, Chile

The Atacama Desert is one of the largest and driest in the world. It covers a strip of land of 1,000 km along the Pacific coast, west of the Chilean Andes. Due to its unique landscape and abundant activities on offer, the Atacama Desert has lately become Chile’s top touristic destination.

This tour is a great opportunity to explore the typical, magical scenery and wildlife of the Andean plateau. We will hike about 5 hours along the Peñaliri River, at a maximum altitude of 4,000 m, from Machuca to Rio Grande, one of the most remote villages in the area. Along the way, we will probably see wild alpacas, guanacos, ducks and flamingos feeding.

We will depart at 8AM in a vehicle from the town of San Pedro de Atacama (2,408m) to Machuca, 80 km north. Once we arrive at Río Grande mid-afternoon, we will drive back to San Pedro, arriving around 5PM.

Before joining this trip, for acclimatization purposes, we recommend spending at least 3 days in San Pedro de Atacama, participating in other expeditions.

Interested in this adventure? Book your tour now!

If you are looking for other expeditions in Atacama, check out the 1-day ascent to Lascar Volcano or the 2-day ascent to Licanbur.