Laguna Miscanti

Laguna Miscanti is one of the great high-altitude sights on the Atacama circuit: a deep blue lake below the dark cone of Cerro Miscanti. Vicuñas sometimes graze nearby, and the scale is wonderfully austere.

This is much higher than San Pedro and the Salar floor, so take the altitude seriously. Move slowly, bring layers, and do not rush the walk from the parking area.

things to do sight nature
A story
Miscanti and Miniques sit above 4,000 metres, where the air is thin enough to make walking feel oddly deliberate. Their blue water exists because volcanic lava once blocked older drainage, trapping mountain runoff in two high basins.