Soft sandy tracks | Warning

Agree the difficult part actually starts 3 km before. We have a Puch230ge with lowered tire pressure and low gears it was no issue at all. Our engine is quite weak. After that there was no issue anymore. Take the right track to Piedra Pomez. There are even signs leading you to the right.

Report Check-In

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!

Report Check-In

We drove it from south to north with a pickup popup camper. It was definetly a hard drive. The hard part started 3km earlier then marked. We needed low gear, diff loc and a shovel. But it's a very beautiful drive and worth it.

Report Check-In

It‘s an amazing drive and you definitely need 4x4. Coming from Piedra Pomez the deep sand patches are all downhill, so not too bad in our opinion. The other way round it might be challenging. Road is easy to follow and just stunning. We were in a Toyota Landcruiser.

Report Check-In

It's really a lot of sand and quite exhausting on a motorcycle. We came from Fiambala and had to push our small bikes with ~50kg luggage through the sand at ~4300m altitude. We only have 23hp and the bikes couldn't turn the rear wheel anymore. It might be easier with a stronger bike. However - this was the hardest part of the route Fiambala -> El Penon. The famous riverbed before Las Papas is challenging, but not as hard as these sandy parts - at least not on motorcycle.

Report Check-In

Awesome drive to the summit from Piedra Gómez. In my opinión no chance without a 4x4. The strong wind is blowing in front of you which adds difficulties to the sand. Hopefully, sand is not soft as beach or désert sand.
The way down is more tricky as the RP 34 is broken at several parts. You have to find your way and you need a really high clearance to get through washout. It was one of the most interesting drive technically saying. We made it with a Defender pretty well equided

Report Check-In

You need a lot of power to climb to this altitude (4100) in the soft volcanic sand. From both directions, the track is sandy and partly pretty steep.
Good luck - fantastic drive up here!

Report Check-In