Río Pilcomayo National Park

Information

It is a national park located in the northeast of the province of Formosa. Its name comes from the fact that it is along the Pilcomayo River. It occupies 51889 hectares, and is located about 7 km from the town of Laguna Blanca, 8 km from Laguna Naick Neck and 50 km from Clorinda. It belongs to the ecoregion of the humid Chaco, and when you walk through it you can see that it has different environments such as a large area of meadows with caranday palms and flooded areas with marshes.

My recommendation is to have at least two days to get to know the different attractions of the park. To visit it, you can access it through two different places, each with its own parking, camping area, toilets and trails. One of them is the Estero Poí recreational area, which also has a vehicular road that leads to the Pilcomayo River. The other is the Laguna Blanca recreational area, where there are footbridges and lookouts over the Laguna Blanca body of water (like a lake).

In this park you can observe many species of wildlife. Among the mammals, the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), which is in danger of extinction, stands out. Monkeys, peccaries and foxes can be frequently observed. There are also reptiles such as the yacaré (Caiman yacare) and broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris), snakes and amphibians. And a variety of birds ranging from rheas, birds of prey to aquatic birds.

To get there, from National Route 86 there is a dirt road to the Laguna Blanca area and another dirt road to the Estero Poí area. Keep in mind that these access roads can be complicated with the rains.

In the neighbouring village of Laguna Blanca there is accommodation and grocery shops. Some shops can also be found in the village of Laguna Naick Neck.