La Rioja's surroundings are the main reason most visitors come this far north. The desert landscapes to the north and west are among the most striking in South America, and several of the sites are protected as national or provincial parks.
Talampaya National Park, about 180 km north, is the headline attraction — a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared with Ischigualasto. The canyon circuit through the park passes beneath walls of red sandstone up to 150 metres high, scattered with pre-Columbian petroglyphs. Condors nest in the cliffs and can often be seen soaring overhead. Tours leave from the city in the early morning and return by late afternoon.
Ischigualasto Provincial Park (Valle de la Luna), just over the border in San Juan Province, is often combined with Talampaya in a single long day. The landscape here is utterly different — grey and white clay formations eroded into strange shapes, peppered with fossilised bones from the Triassic period. It is one of the few places in the world with a complete geological record of the Triassic, and the palaeontological finds here transformed understanding of early dinosaur evolution.
Closer to the city, the Sierra de Velasco foothills offer hiking and, in the village of Sanagasta, hot springs. The drive up into the range gives good views back over the city and the flat desert floor below.