Road Piedra Pomez-Las Papas-Fiambala | Warning

C'est une des plus belles pistes qu'on ait pu prendre. On a commencé le matin des bords de la Laguna Carachi et on a rejoint le magnifique site de Piedra Pomez.

Puis on a suivi la RP 34 (sur l'application OSMAND) et on a traversé la Mar de Olas (mer de vagues). Parfois la vraie piste s'éloigne un tout petit peu de la trace du GPS, mais rien de grave. A un moment, ne pas hésiter à prendre la portion de piste dans les cailloux un peu dur (et non la montée en sable très compliquée indiquée par l'application) car les deux se rejoignent après.

Le plus compliqué est le passage du col à plus de 4.100m d'altitude. Il s'agit d'une longue montée dans le sable mou. Avec notre pick-up Toyota Hilux 4x4 avec cellule pop-up, on a dû s'y prendre à 2 fois pour passer. On a utilisé la boîte courte en accélérant presque à fond et on avait baissé la pression des pneus (BF Goodrich AT KO2) avant le début de la piste. On a pris de l'élan. Comme il y a un petit dévers, on a visé au plus haut à droite pour se laisser dériver un peu plus bas sur la gauche, et c'est passé!
La suite est une piste relativement facile, excepté les cailloux tranchants.

On a alors quitté la RP 34 et on a fait un arrêt à la piscine d’eau chaude 26°54'35.4"S 67°44'50.7"W (au sud des thermes Los Hornos). La piste est assez compliquée sur le dernier kilomètre, mais ça passe. Nous aurons mis 3 heures depuis Piedra Pomez.

On a ensuite repris la piste direction Las Papas. C'est une longue descente avec des épingles serrées, que je deconseille aux véhicules longs. On a mis 1h30 entre la piscine et Las Papas.

La fin se situe dans un canyon. On traverse beaucoup de fois le petit torrent. Nous avons eu maximum 20 - 25 cm, mais il n'avait pas plu depuis plusieurs jours. C'est assez long et monotone pour en sortir car on ne peut pas rouler vite à cause des cailloux.
Il nous a fallu 2h10 depuis Las Papas pour sortir du canyon et rejoindre la RP 34.

A la sortie du canyon, des travaux sont en cours pour la construction d'un barrage. Pour l'instant, ça passe sans souci. Mais quid pour l'avenir?

Au total, d'Antofagasta à Fiambala (2 points de ravitaillement en carburant), il y a environ 230 Km. Facilement faisable avec 1 plein de carburant!
Petit conseil: téléchargez les vues satellites hors ligne dans le cache de Google Maps. Ca vous permettra de voir les pistes!

This is one of the most beautiful trails we could have taken. We started in the morning from the edges of Laguna Carachi and reached the magnificent site of Piedra Pomez.

Then we followed RP 34 (on the OSMAND app) and crossed the Mar de Olas (sea of ​​waves). Sometimes the real track deviates a little bit from the GPS track, but nothing serious. At one point, don't hesitate to take the section of track in the stones that is a little hard (and not the very complicated sandy climb indicated by the application) because the two join together afterwards.

The most complicated is the passage of the pass at more than 4,100m altitude. It is a long climb in soft sand. With our Toyota Hilux 4x4 pick-up with pop-up camper, we had to try twice to get through. We used the short gearbox, accelerating almost to full throttle and we had lowered the tire pressure (BF Goodrich AT KO2) before the start of the track. We gained momentum. As there is a small slope, we aimed as high as possible to the right to drift a little lower to the left, and it passed!
The rest is a relatively easy track, except for the sharp stones.

We then left RP 34 and stopped at the hot water pool 26°54'35.4"S 67°44'50.7"W (south of the Los Hornos thermal baths). The track is quite complicated on the last kilometer, but it passes. It will have taken us 3 hours from Piedra Pomez.

We then took the track towards Las Papas. It is a long descent with tight switchbacks, which I do not recommend for long vehicles. It took us 1h30 between the swimming pool and Las Papas.

The end is in a canyon. We cross the small stream many times. We had a maximum of 20 - 25 cm, but it hadn't rained for several days. It's quite long and monotonous to get out because you can't drive fast because of the stones.
It took us 2h10 from Las Papas to exit the canyon and join RP 34.

At the exit of the canyon, work is underway to build a dam. For now, it's going smoothly. But what about the future?

In total, from Antofagasta to Fiambala (2 refueling points) there are approximately 230 Km. Easily doable with 1 full tank of fuel!

Quick tip: Download satellite views offline to the Google Maps cache. This will allow you to see the slopes!

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We did the trails going from North to South. This is definitely the easier way for motos. Do not do it with a heavy bike. Light dual sports or lighter only! We rode it with loaded CRF300 and had fun.
If you can handle the intermediate/expert sections of any BDR/TET then you should not have nothing to worry about.
The deep sand stretches are not longer than 200 m but there is many of them. The main sandy part at the summit can be avoided when sticking to the eastern tracks. This detour is also steep deep sand but going downhill (from North to South) not an big issue. From there the descent to the canyon is easy. We struggled with the canyon more since it is not only deep sand but also rocks hiding under it. At least the river crossings were not deeper than 50 cm and the ground of the river was visible at 90 percent of the fordings.
Watch the weather forecast before you are going! And going South to North will be way harder. At least on motos.
Enjoy! This was the best trail we rode in Argentina (so far)!

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Amazing track, almost insane 🤦🏻‍♀️ . Everything written here is right. Amazing to drive in a river bed ! but do not get in late in the day (no one wants to get stuck in There at night);
note that the canyon is 26 km long (it took us more than 2 hours with a land cruiser 78 turbo and low water)- do not start to drive if storm/rain showsup from the north. It fills the rivers very fast and in some places in the canyon, it is very narrow and no place to escape if water rises up.
Not sure How long this track will be opened : mining companies are building a dam at the south end, they Will pump a lot of water (villagers get mad) and they might close the canyon.
Do not take this « Fiambala - Antofagasta » track from a way to the other if you do not have a 4x4, strong tyres, good driver, Time, enough diesel, high clearance, and if you have a turbo it is even better.
The part between the termas and Las Papas is steep, rocky and verry narrow in some turns especially. Not sure how big rigs can drive there.
In the canyon, any rain makes the car traces dissapear. It is very helpfull to see where people have been driving . In some places there are so Many rocks it is hard to find your way. Note that if it has been raining lately, tracks Will be invisible and make it a little bit harder/longer.
Saying all this, go and enjoy! It is worth it and The landscape is amazing.

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Drove the route north to south in a 4x4 Toyota Tacoma. Fun driving, amazing scenery, don't miss Termas Los Hornos. Riverbed south of Las Papas was fine, well graded and never needed 4x4. Deepest crossing maybe 40 cm. There are lots of them though!

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We did it with Toyota Landcruiser 80 Series from south to north. Driving time till Pomez 7hrs with many fotostops. Riverbed to Las Papas easy this time of the year. Highest point is approx. 4300m. We carry Satfon for emergencies. We know, one day later a well equipped Suzuki Vitara also crossed. But 4x4 with central diff lock and low range gear definitely needed.

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The river bed was in an ok condition that time of the year. At least for motorcycles. It's extremely rocky in some parts and some of the many river crossings are too deep to see the ground. That makes it kind of challenging. However, the sandy part towards El Penon was much more challenging for us on the little hp bikes. We had to push them at ~4300m altitude, because the bikes couldn't turn the rear wheels anymore due to the deep sand. Nevertheless, it's a fantastic route but one has to remember, that it's extremely remote and you won't meet many people there.

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Absolutely stunning and very diverse drive.
Track is very well now, doable for any 4x4. We have a 6m Sprinter, with low gear, no troubles. Without a low gear I think it will be difficult for heavy overlanders.
We took 4 days for this great stretch. Don't miss the big dunes and Los Hornos.

Although it's an 'easy' drive, go prepared. It's very remote. We didn't encounter anyone for 2 days between Las Papas and Gómez. If you have a break down, you can't simply hike anywhere, who knows how many days it will take for someone to cross you and subzero temperatures + strong winds at night. This place is no joke.

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The famous riverbed to arrive to Las Papas from Fiambala at present date is in good condition and doable with any 4x4.

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So We made It....the first part from Antofogasta is really awesome until the summit. There is no official track in the sand and you have to navigate.. at the end of afternoon seems to be better as the fresh wind is better for your engine and It s always better to drive on cold sand than hot. The first part to the laguna is narrow and Sandy. Then you have serious washout and you need to find your way until the laguna.
After the laguna, there are several tricky parts until Las Papas. We asked to hot spring guys How was the road after las papas. He told us muy muy complicado. In fact It was...terrible. Big rocks, no tracks, sometimes 50 cm water deep, at least 50 river crossing and full of hidden rocks which destroyed our tyres, châssis protection and extra tank. It s really really hard. It tooks us 9 hours for 23 km. Really high clearance and chasis protection needed. It was the end of the rainy season maybe that’s why It was so hard. Worst ever parts on our journey since Alaska. I ll never do It again with my own vehicule but awesome adventure.
PS: We have a Land Rover Defender 130 really well équiped with winch, châssis protection high clearance +5 cm but pretty heavy as all the Overland véhicule
Good luck

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Amazing road, but be warned. My experience is with a Toyota LandCruiser. Coming from the north, the road after Piedra Pomez rises to considerable hights with deep soft sand patches. Especially the last stretch up, I needed to air down my tires and use low gear. After the summit, it declined quickly (with again soft sand). After that, it is a rocky, narrow, steep decline until Las Papas (not advised with big rigs, because oncoming traffic would cause serious problems because it's impossible to pass safely). From Las Papas south, it's al riverbed with many river crossings (can be quite deep) and an occasional mud and sand patch. From Las Papas it might be doable without 4wd (depending season), but from Las Papas north I would not even try it without 4wd & high clearance. Entire stretch took me 7 hours.

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