Puente del Inca
A natural stone bridge across the Mendoza River, stained orange-yellow by hot spring minerals, with the ruins of an abandoned spa hotel beneath it. The scene is striking.
The Puente del Inca lies at about 2,720 meters in the Mendoza River valley. It is a natural bridge about 47 meters long and 28 meters wide, formed as glacial debris was cemented together by mineral-rich hot spring water. The rocks and hot spring pools beneath the bridge are stained vivid orange, yellow and ochre by sulfur and iron. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a famous spa hotel stood here, attracting the upper classes of Chile and Argentina for recuperation. Darwin visited in 1835 and described the site. In 1965 an avalanche destroyed the hotel, leaving only the mineral-encrusted hot spring bath ruins beneath the bridge and a small chapel, which survived the avalanche. To protect the site, visitors may not climb onto the bridge or go down to the hot springs, and can only view it from the platform on the opposite bank. Nearby, craft stalls sell small objects that have been “petrified” by minerals in the hot spring water. The bridge is also near the Andean Mountaineers' Cemetery, which commemorates climbers who died on Aconcagua. The bridge is about 180 kilometers from Mendoza, and it is usually combined with Aconcagua Provincial Park as a day trip. International buses to Chile also pass through here. Protect yourself from the sun, and be aware of mild altitude sickness at this elevation.
Opening hours
All day (observation deck)
Nearby sights
- Aconcagua Provincial Park
- Los Penitentes
- Christ the Redeemer of the Andes
- Uspallata
- Cerro de los Siete Colores, Uspallata
- Potrerillos Reservoir
- Termas de Cacheuta
- Bodega Salentein