Calchaquí Valley

[1] Most of the Calchaquí Valley is part of the High Monte ecoregion, a semi-arid montane shrubland which lies between the eastern Sierras Pampeanas and the Andes.

The eastward-facing slopes of the surrounding mountains intercept moisture-bearing winds from the east, which support the Southern Andean Yungas humid forests.

The period saw a growth in population and irrigated agriculture, with towns and villages on the main valley floor and along the western tributary streams.

Food crops grown in the valleys included maize, Chenopodium, tubers, beans, and chili peppers (Capsicum).

Manufacturing activities in the valley included copper and gold metallurgy, marine shell, mica, obsidian, stone beads, and ceramics.

The reserve protects the curious geological formations and high walls of unique landscape value, as well as an important paleontological site belonging to the period Cretaceous.

National Route 68, which connects the town of Cafayate with the city of Salta, runs through the reserve along the Conchas River.

Along its route one can see landscapes of very varied colors and geoforms of great variety among which are the Garganta del Diablo and the amphitheater of reddish sedimentary rocks.

In the Yesera, there is an important fossil fish deposit, evidence of a process that would have occurred some 15 million years ago: the last entry of the sea to the continent.