NORTHERN CIRCUIT

There is a craftsmen school and each year the celebration of the Fiesta Provincial de la Naranja (Orange Festival) takes place.

QUINES
Some 150 kms to the North of the Capital City, among large plantations of citrus fruits and date fruits, we will reach Quines, a town that has been converted into an important centre of communications with the towns of other provinces such as Córdova or San Juan.

In its surroundings, a couple of interesting attractios to the traveler appear, two river beach resorts that share outstandingly beautiful highland landscapes and hot spring water fountains. One of them is the Balneario El Muro, 4 kms away, assuredly the culminating spot of the Quines River.

The Escuela Agrotécnica de Cultivos e Industrias Regionales or Agro-Technical School of Farming and Regional Industries can be found there, an area of about 200 has of irrigated lands devoted to enhancing the production of poultry, milk, honey and vegetables of the region.

Quines counts with a hostelry service, camping sites and restaurants. It offers its famed wood handicrafts. That is the reason why every year they celebrates the Fiesta Provincial del Mate.

LIBERTADOR GENERAL SAN MARTIN
At 160 kms from the City of San Luis, driving by the No 20 and No 2 Provincial Routes, the Libertador General San Martín is a small town that offers as its main attractions the sight of the historical Chapel of Nuestra Señora de Santa Bárbara, that still preserves the largest bell of the Province.

In this town, the traveller can also visit the Museo Arqueológico Municipal Polifacético and enjoy the Municipal River Beach Resort, and 2 kms away, get an unforgettable experience in the practice of rappel, trekking or horse back rides around the withered stony outcroppings of the Cerro Blanco Mountain, on which top one can get a fine panoramic view of the area.

7 kms forward the traveller will find the Dique La Huertita Dam, a water mirror more than 12 kms long and totalling 450 has of surface, making it ideal for the practice of water sports as well as for fishing for atherine and rainbow trout. The fishing Clubs La Huertita and Merlo provide adequate lodgings for the visiting sport fishermen.

Another marvel of the San Luis Highlands appears 14 kms further: the picturesque ravine of San Vicente, an thrilling pass that is in reality a geological failure where the stream of San Vicente is born.

3 blocks away from the San Martín Main Square you will find the Provincial Hostelry.

LAS CHACRAS
At 136 kms from the Capital City, by the N° 2Provintial Route, you will find Las Chacras to be one of the more attractive landscapes of San Luis.

Called Las Chacras de Osorio in the old times, it is a cultural attraction with a historical point of view, because in it is located the "Monumento al Pueblo Puntano de la Independencia".

This is an architectonical assembly that was inaugurated in 1991 as a reminder of the place where a squadron of eight hundred volunteers from the zone were militarily trained and who later joined the glorious Regimiento de Granaderos a Caballo 1, 2 and 3 that fought in Peru under the command of General José de San Martín.

This monument, built out of granite and other stones extracted from quarries of the Province, shows plaques with the names of the "puntanos" soldiers that died during the Independence War, and their remains are kept in three caskets. In the plaza an amphitheatre has also been erected for cultural activities.

The main attraction is a waterfall in a place known as La Mesilla del Cura (The priest's little table) that falls from a small plateau, on the very edge of the highlands, and gushes into a deep gorge of the Luján River, giving birth to a phenomena known as "chispeadero" . It can be seen at a distance of 21 kms, going by a nearby road.

The Chispeadero, as has been already told, is a 40 m high waterfall that owes its name, as becomes obvious, to the "chispas" or sparkles that bounce from the contact of the water with the rocks, and will wet the face of the traveller that comes too near while beholding the bliss of its beauty.

The access to this fall presents some difficulties. To be able to observe it in all its enormity, the traveller must descend a steep wall of around 50 m. To do that, some precautions are necessary and the company of an expert guide is absolutely essential.

In the near vicinity of the waterfall you can find some suitable places for camping. For lodgings and food services you will need to go to Las Chacras.