Hi
I will be visiting Chile in November. I am interested in driving over the Paso del Agua Negra into Argentina. I have read that this should be possible by mid November but elsewhere I have read it isnt open til December. I appreciate that the weather varies from year to year but I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has driven / motorbiked this route in November and how they found it to be.
Many thanks
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February 2008 post:
Question:
I am wondering if there is a border crossing connecting La Serena to San Juan in Argentina. The Agua Negra Pass? Or, do I have to go to Santiago to get to Mendoza?
Reply 1:
The border crossing at Agua Negra is seasonal and usually opens in November and shuts in April and May. Not all the route is paved, I think, and gets to a height of 4700 meters. You can certainly use it in the months it is open, but public transport might be the problem. I found Covalle Bus going from La Serena to San Juan a couple of times a week but I think they go via Mendoza.
Reply 2:
Agua Negra Pass is fully operating but there are no public buses there. La Serena-San Juan buses run via the Cristo Redentor Pass.
Reply 3:
This crossing is worth the effort. It is quite spectacular.I went through a few years ago in mid December in my Mazda MPV. It had been a snowy winter and the pass had only been opened for a day or two and the graders were still at work. I blew a tire a few hundred meters from the top and had to do a tire change at 4700 m. An interesting experience. We ended up seriously late getting off the mountain and the Argentinean border was closed. We found somebody who was nice enough to stamp us in outside hours or we would have had to spend the night in the area and go back to the crossing in the morning.I asked them then if there were buses on the route and they said there were a few but not scheduled trips by the big companies. Difficult to arrange I expect.
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Anyone crossing Paso de Agua Negra?
Posted: 30-October-2008
Question:
I hear that the Paso de Agua Negra is the most beautiful crossing to Argentina. I also hear that there is no public transportation. Thus I was wondering if anyone was perhaps driving across in the beginning of November (2008). I am going to be in the La Serena/Valle de Elqui area at the time, and I would love to catch a ride with someone into Argentina! I am a young female traveling alone. I would be more than happy to share expenses.
Reply:
I am afraid is too early to cross the pass Agua Negra.,At this moment road teams are cleaning snow and avalanches on the pass. It is not formally open, possibly in one or two weeks ahead. Another thing, the car movement is usually from Argentina to Chile.
Every year the pass is open with an Argentinian-Chilean ceremony. Monitor the date of the ceremony on the link below. Last year (2007) the pass was opened on December 3.