Talampaya National Park

Location: area is situated in the middle west of La Rioja Province.

Surface: 215.000 hectares.

Created: created in 1975 in order to Talampaya Provincial Park in order to preserve paleontological and archaeological sites.

Plants: horco quebracho, cochucho, atamisque, cardones, cedro, tarco, tipa, nogal, palo barroso, alpamato, mato, chal- chal, güili, claveles del aire and orchids.

Animals: chuña de patas rojas, charata, pava de monte común, corzuelas pardas, pecaríes, tapires, pecarí labiado, corzuzuela parda, corzuela roja, lobito de río, mayuato, zorro de monte, puma, gallareta escudete rojo, pollona negra, pato cutirí and macacito gris.

Characteristics: PN Talampaya (Talampaya National Park) was created to preserve important paleontological and archaeological sites.

Over vertical walls and big rocks there are a lot of figurative engravings –human and animal figures- and abstracts –geometrical- that express a harmonic fusion between nature and culture. So that this place is one of the most important cave paintings of Argentina.A

The protected are belongs to a mount sample and it is in “Monte de Sierras y Bolsones”, “Pre-Puna” and “Chaco Seco” eco-regions.

“Montes de Sierras y Bolsones” eco-region is composed by a large geological and geomorphologic diversity. Occupies “faldeos”, “intermontanos” valleys and plains with low slopes that form close or half-close basins. The grounds are sandy and poor in salty and organic matter. “Xerofilos” forests, savannah and pastures dominate the region. The Park protects low hills from the west “riojano”. They present notable erosive process that makes “cañadones” and high natural walls, like Talampaya River and the ones that are situated in Los Cajones.

The landscape is varied and is composed by sandy plains, “bolsones”, tableland and low mountain's slopes. In the area there are vast poor vegetation sectors called “huayquerias”. Also there are many sandy formations and estrange rocky figures, like in the area called “Ciudad Perdida”.