Chilecito

Information

It is the second most populated city in La Rioja, located 194 km from the provincial capital. It is situated in a valley bordered by the Sierras Pampeanas (Pampean Mountains), which are the Velasco on one side and the Famatina on the other. The Los Sarmientos River flows through the northern border of the city, with its yellowish water.

It has services for the visitor such as a tourist information office, ATM, fuel station, supermarkets and a variety of lodgings and places to eat.

There are many places to visit in the city:
- Cristo del Portezuelo: it is on top of a hill in front of the municipal park. It has a stairway that leads to a 16-metre-high Christ, from where there is a good panoramic view of the city with the Sierras de Famatina in the background. There is a tourist information office below.
- Museo del Cable Carril y Primera Estación del Cable Carril Chilecito-La Mejicana: they are close to each other. You can see what was the first station of the cable rail, and the museum exhibits equipment and provides information about the mining enterprise that existed until the beginning of the 20th century.
- Samay Huasi Museum: it is located in the place where the former politician Joaquín Víctor González used to rest. It has rooms with original furniture of the time, paintings, mineral samples and some archaeological pieces. You can see its gardens at the foot of the mountains.
- Molino San Francisco Museum: it is located near the city, it is an old flour mill from the 1700's that nowadays is a museum with rooms of different themes.

Already on the outskirts:
- Segunda Estación del Cable Carril (Second Cable Car Station): you reach it by a fully paved road. There you can see a mining station with machinery and equipment, and there are also balconies and a metal lookout with good views of the area.
- Unión de los Ríos: You get there by a dirt road that forks before going up to the second station of the cable car. You can observe a river with yellow water that joins naturally with another one of white/transparent water, due to the different components that they drag.

To get to Chilecito by car, you can take National Route 40, which connects with many tourist destinations in the north and south of the country. If you go by bus, there is transportation from the cities of Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Rosario, and from other destinations in the province such as Chamical, Famatina, La Rioja, Nonogasta, Vichigasta and Villa Unión.