Ruta Nacional 150 – Ischigualasto Circuit

The gravel crunches under your tires as you enter what looks like an alien planet, but this is actually Argentina’s Ischigualasto Provincial Park, where 230-million-year-old fossils poke out of red sandstone badlands that NASA uses to train Mars rover drivers. The park’s name means “place where the moon sets” in Quechua, and after driving the 25-mile circuit through these otherworldly formations, you’ll understand why the ancient people saw this place as supernatural.

Ruta Nacional 150’s Ischigualasto Circuit is a full-day scenic drive that any stock vehicle can handle, winding through gravel roads past geological formations with names like El Hongo (The Mushroom) and La Cancha de Bochas (The Bowling Ball Court). The 40-kilometer route gains just 600 feet of elevation, topping out at 4,265 feet, making it accessible to everything from rental cars to overland rigs. Park entry requires advance reservations and a mandatory guided tour in Spanish, though English-speaking guides are sometimes available. The circuit runs April through October when temperatures don’t melt tourists into the badlands—summer here hits 120°F and the park closes to protect both visitors and the fragile ecosystem.

Cell service disappears once you leave the visitor center, but the well-marked route keeps you oriented through formations carved by 200 million years of wind and flash floods. Water crossings are nonexistent in this desert environment, though dispersed camping is allowed in designated areas for those with permits. Fuel up in San Agustín de Valle Fértil, 80 kilometers away—there’s nothing but moonscape between here and the next gas station. The park’s paleontological importance cannot be overstated: this is where scientists found some of the oldest dinosaur fossils on Earth, including the complete skeleton of Herrerasaurus, one of the first carnivorous dinosaurs.

Drive the Ischigualasto Circuit for geology lessons that make textbooks look boring, landscape photography that needs no filters, and the humbling experience of rolling through terrain that predates everything you thought was old. You’ll leave with a memory card full of Mars-like scenery and the knowledge that you’ve driven through one of the most important paleontological sites on the planet—no rock crawling required, just respect for deep time and alien landscapes. Have a dirty day.