Balcón del Pissis

Information

It is a natural viewpoint located on a mountain (balcón) from where you can see the Pissis mountain of 6795 metres above sea level, which is the third highest peak in America. It is reached by a vehicular road that goes along a mountain range. Although the entire route is through the province of Catamarca, it is worth mentioning that the Pissis peak is an interprovincial limit between Catamarca and La Rioja.

The road is accessed from the paved National Route 60, between kilometres 1456 and 1457 (about 86 km from Fiambalá). From there to the balcony it is 54 km of gravel road, which when I drove along it was generally in good condition because it was said to be maintained by a mining company. In any case, you should always drive with caution and take into account that there are no services or mobile phone signals along the entire route. Another issue is that at times the wind can be very strong, so you have to be careful with the doors and with yourself if you want to get out of the vehicle at some point.

During the route you will see a natural Andean landscape with mountains and some bodies of water. It is common to see vicunas (a South American camelid, Vicugna vicugna) and other wild species such as foxes and the partridge called Puna tinamou (Tinamotis pentlandii).

About 2200 metres before the balcony you pass the Laguna Celeste (like a lake), which is frozen in several months of the year and you can access its shore to appreciate its colour. When you reach the balcony, the Pissis is right in front of you and you can easily distinguish it by its snowy summit. And to the right you can see another lake called Laguna Azul.