Uspallata is a village and administrative district in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

, in a scenic location on the road that crosses the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

between Mendoza and

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

. It is located west of Mendoza and was once served by the now disused

Transandine Railway The Transandine Railway ( es, Ferrocarril Trasandino) was a combined rack ( Abt system) and adhesion railway which operated from Mendoza in Argentina, across the Andes mountain range via the Uspallata Pass, to Santa Rosa de Los Andes in C ...

which passed through the town on its way from Mendoza to Los Andes in Chile. There are several items of interest in and around the village including "las bovedas," somewhat strangely egg-shaped kilns dating from the early 17th century which were used to extract gold, silver, zinc, copper and other metals from minerals mined nearby. Worth a brief visit as they are only approx from town, complete with a small museum, notes include the fact that some of the refractory bricks can still be seen with "Rufford Stourbridge" from the English West Midlands stamped on them; a brief reminder of Britain's industrial heritage. The road to the Chilean border incorporates some of the most dramatic scenery in the region, the Andean mountains in this part being part of the backdrop of the highest peak out of the

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the Southern Hemisphere with a summi ...

at almost above sea level. There is a brief glimpse of the stunning mountain from the road some distance from another point of interest, an ochre coloured bridge spanning the

Mendoza River The Mendoza River is a river in the province of Mendoza, Argentina.Uspallata Airport Uspallata Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto de Uspallata, ) is a public use airport located north of Uspallata, a small town in the Mendoza Province of Argentina. There is rising terrain to the north, and mountainous terrain in all other qu ...

Geography

Climate

Uspallata has a

cold desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...

( Köppen: BWk), with an average annual precipitation of . Summers have pleasant days and cool nights, and winters are chilly to cold, with the possibility of

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet ...

fall.

References

Populated places in Mendoza Province {{MendozaAR-geo-stub