Day trips from Mendoza
From Mendoza one road leads into the mountains: a viewpoint under Aconcagua, a ruined spa under a natural bridge, and a pass that can stay shut for weeks in winter.
- Best full day
- Aconcagua on Route 7
- Easiest
- Cacheuta, an hour uphill
- Active
- Rafting on the Mendoza river all year
Everything outside the vineyards in Mendoza goes up one road — National Route 7 towards Chile, climbing from seven hundred metres to nearly three thousand. On it are the viewpoint under Aconcagua, an easy hour and a half on foot from the park gate, a natural bridge over the remains of a hotel an avalanche took, and a border that snow closes.
Aconcagua and the high mountains — a full day
Route 7 climbs beside the Mendoza river through a canyon, past the abandoned stations of a railway that ran to Chile until the 1980s. The park entrance is at Horcones, 185 kilometres and about three hours from town; from there a two-kilometre loop, an hour to an hour and a half on foot, leads to the lagoon and the viewpoint at 2,950 metres, under the south face of the 6,961-metre summit. The ticket is booked and paid in advance — it is not sold at the gate. From May to October the park runs on its winter regime, so check before leaving that Horcones is taking day visitors.
Puente del Inca — on the same road
A natural bridge of minerals deposited by a hot spring, orange with iron and sulphur. Beneath it are the remains of a 1925 thermal hotel, seventy rooms with a bath in each, which an avalanche took on 15 August 1965 along with some forty lives; of the complex, the chapel is what remains. You do not step onto the bridge — it is undercut — you look from the path.
The Cacheuta hot springs — half a day
An hour uphill, in the river canyon. The Parque de Agua Termal is the public section: pools from 28 to 43 degrees, open daily 10 to 18, a ticket at €8.60–9.75 a day — cheaper on weekdays, fuller at weekends. From Easter to 20 September only the upper pools are open. Winter is best, when the gap between air and water is widest.
Rafting and air
The Mendoza river at Potrerillos is run all year: from November to March the snowmelt gives grade three and four rapids, from April to October the water is lower and clear, grade two and three. The basic stretch is about eight kilometres, an hour of paddling. The same area offers paragliding and riding to sunset — the version of Mendoza that has nothing to do with wine, and it is worth a day.
What not to do
- Aconcagua and a winery on the same day. Horcones is about three hours each way; combine them and both become driving.
- A winter crossing into Chile without checking. The Cristo Redentor pass closes in snow: in the winter of 2026 it was shut for 34 days, from 14 July to 18 August.
- Short sleeves at 2,950 metres. There is over two thousand metres of altitude between the city and the viewpoint; take a jacket regardless of the city forecast.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Can you climb Aconcagua?
The ascent takes two to three weeks with acclimatisation and needs a permit and a guide. What a passing traveller does is the loop to Laguna de Horcones, two kilometres and an easy hour to hour and a half from the gate, to the viewpoint at 2,950 metres under the south face.
How long is the trip to Aconcagua?
A full day: 185 kilometres and about three hours each way, with stops in Uspallata and at Puente del Inca, then an hour and a half on the path to the lagoon. The ticket is bought in advance, not at the gate, and the return is planned before dark.
Do the hot springs work in winter?
They do, daily from 10 to 18, and winter is when they are best — water from 28 to 43 degrees against winter air. From Easter to 20 September only the upper pools are open; weekdays are cheaper and emptier than weekends.
Ready for Mendoza?
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