Friday, August 14th 2026 - 08:40 UTC
Authorities in the Argentine province of San Juan will keep access to Pampa del Leoncito restricted until the end of the month, after a vehicle drove across the white clay plain, located at 1,500 meters above sea level at the foot of the Andes, despite a ban on traffic, leaving ruts up to 25 centimeters deep.
The episode took place on Saturday night. According to the authorities' reconstruction, a 46-year-old physician from the neighboring province of Mendoza travelled around a kilometer and a half before the pickup became stuck in the mud. He tried to reverse between 200 and 300 meters, used a ladder in an attempt to free it and, failing to do so, abandoned the vehicle and left on a motorcycle he was carrying in the truck bed, leaving fresh marks on the ground.
Traffic had already been limited before the incident because of rainfall in the area. The surface, made up of silts and clays of saline origin, loses consistency when saturated with water and deforms under the weight of vehicles and people. Once the ground hardens again, the ruts become part of the landscape and cannot be erased with machinery without causing greater damage.
The mayor of Calingasta, Sebastián Carbajal, estimated the deepest marks could take close to a century to disappear, a projection based on earlier damage rather than a technical report on this case. San Juan's director of cultural heritage, Gladys González, called the events “very regrettable” and agreed the deterioration exceeds that caused by previous breaches involving quad bikes.
