Nevado Tres Cruces National Park (Parque Nacional Nevado Tres Cruces) Tours and Activities

Windswept high deserts painted in bright mineral rainbows - magenta, orange, blinding white - flow across the volcanic altitudes ofNevado Tres Cruces National Park (Parque Nacional Nevado Tres Cruces). The park's harsh but dazzlingly beautiful terrain is displayed in two separate sectors.

The larger northern sector is home to the shimmering salt flats of Salar de Maricunga, and brilliant unexpected blues of Laguna Santa Rosa, a birder's paradise and home to three types of flamingos. To the south is smaller Negro Francisco Lagoon, another important wetland surrounded by herds of vicuñas (small llamas) and sudden snowy peaks, including snowcapped6,052 m (19,855 ft)Copiapó Volcano.

As impressive as Copiapó is, rising high above the Azufre Mountains that separate the two park sectors (though unprotected, they also have fine hiking and camping opportunities) it is dwarfed by the world's largest volcano,6,887 m (22,595 ft) Ojo de Salado. Despite their size, both are fairly non-technical climbs and can be summited, with guides, between December and February.