TRIPS TO CHILE: NATIONAL PARK SNOW-COVERED THREE CROSSINGS
Geographic location: One is in III the Region, in the premountain range of the province of Copiapó.
Surface: 59,081 hectares
Distance of Santiago: 800 km approx
What to do: Trekking, to admire the beauty of the landscape.
Snowed the Three Crossings are one of the Andean giants of Chile. With his 6.749m, is the second higher summit of the country.
The National Park Snow-covered Three Crossings is divided in two sectors: one of them includes the south of salar of Maricunga, the lagoon Santa Rosa and the course of the Lamas river. The second includes the Lagoon of the Black Francisco and the mouth of the Astaburuaga river.
Their attractiveness is based, then, in the cordilleranas lagoons, the high summits and a great diversity of fauna with near 47 species of altiplánicas birds.
In 1996, the Lagoons Santa Rosa and of the Black Francisco were declared “Ramsar Sites”, that is to say, moist soils of international importance for the conservation of the aquatic birds.
The little vegetation of the place does not prevent that mammalian, birds and reptiles inhabit the zone. The fauna is very varied around salares and lagoons, with three species of flamenco, piuquenes, juarjual duck, chick of sea and ivory palms. Between the mammals they honor the vicunas, the culpeos guanacos and vixens.
The flora corresponds to a vegetation of fertile valleys and bofedales (altoandinos moist soils) typical of places in height.
The main footpaths allow to know the lagoon the Black Francisco, the river the Hen and Broken Santa Rosa, excursions that are characterized by the beauty of their landscapes.
The “footpath of Chile” is a project coordinated by the National Commission of the Environment (Conama) altogether with a series of other institutions, that it looks for to unite all the country in a total of 7,500 kilometers, from now until year 2010, when Chile celebrates its Bicentennial. Ready and 17 sections are already qualified.
One of them is the section Santa Rosa, located in the Snow-covered Park Three Crossings, destined to a public with experience in trekking.