Llullaillaco National Park is a national park of

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 east a ...

, 275 km southeast of

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...

in 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 ...

. It lies between the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Domeyko and the international border with

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, th ...

. In the park there are several important mountains that culminate at the summit of

Llullaillaco Llullaillaco () is a dormant stratovolcano at the border of Argentina (Salta Province) and Chile (Antofagasta Region). It lies in the Puna de Atacama, a region of tall volcanic peaks on a high plateau close to the Atacama Desert, one of the dri ...

volcano. The park also is characterized by extensive semi-desert plains interspersed by ''Quebradas''. A part of the Inca road system is found in ''Río Frío'' area.

Vegetation

The park lies within the Central Andean dry puna

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

. In the park have been recorded 126 flora species, 21 of which are endemic to the area.

Access

To access this area, the travel must be programmed and have official permission from the CONAF (National Forest Guard of Chile) in Antofagasta City.Llullaillaco National Park
from Letsgochile.com Herds of

vicuña The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco, which live ...

s wander through the park.

References

Parque Nacional Llullaillaco
Protected areas of Antofagasta Region National parks of Chile Protected areas established in 1995 {{SouthAm-protected-area-stub