The Calilegua National Park

The Calilegua National Park was created in order to protect a representative sample of “Las Yungas”. This area has the biggest biodiversity of Argentina.


GENERAL INFORMATION OF THE AREA

The PN Calilegua (Calilegua Nacional Park) is located at the south-east of the province of Jujuy, at the Ledesma department, over the east slant of the Calilegua hills.
It was created in 1979 to save a representative place of Las Yungas –one of the environment with more biodiversity of Argentina –, and to protect the source of the rivers of this hill. With a surface of 295 m2, it comprises the largest National Park of the argentinian north-west and belongs to the eco-regions selva of Las Yungas or selvas of the north-west and puna argentinian mountain.
The Calilegua Nacional Park was created to preserve a representative sector of Las Yungas, which comprises one of the largest environments of bio-diversity in Argentina.
For mountain lovers, this National Park gives the opportunity to get up to the peaks Ammarillo and Hermoso by feet. In addition, through a sailing of several days, visitors could go from this region to the Quebrada de Humahuaca.


CULTURAL RESOURCES

This area was occupied a long time ago by native groups. Their settlements were located in the lower knoll near to the farming grasslands. The places and the arqueological pieces found in the park, like pottery pieces and polished stone hacks, keeps relationship with the communities that inhabited in the yungas region. From the 15th century on, this territory was occupied by the inkas, who built facilities where several aspects of the social, politic and economic organization of the empire were melted and where the symboly, ritual, astronomic and politic meaning was present and made close part of all the inkaic comovision.
Currently, all this region is inhabited by koya communities, inheritors of those societies from the past, essential partners to keep the yungas corridor through the entire argentinian north-west.


NATURAL RESOURCES

Landscapes. Flora and Fauna. This Park has a broken surface with deep cannons carved by streams and rivers with big slopes, and mountain coros with peaks up to 9090 feet. Hermoso, Amarillo and Morro Alto peaks, as well as hills of Socavón, overhang due their magnitude.Several streams and rivers descend from the hills and debouch in the San Lorenzo and Ledesma rivers in the south zone, or in the Las Piedras river in the north. All this water courses finally debouch in the San Francisco river, which flow to the north-east until it confluence with the Bermejo river.Most of the PN Calilegua (Calilegua National Park) is covered by the Las Yungas typical herbage. This herbaje, due to its hard access, it is almost not being altered by human action.The forest of transition is scarce and it has in its lower parts some element from the chaco, while in mountain forrest, it reachs until 5455ft. Over this one, the montano forrest is found with alder and pines of hill and finally high pasturelands.In the montana forest yaguaretés, tapirs and river wolves subsist. Bats (like the dark small fruiterer one) can be found between the leaf of the trees. In addition, the big snout bat could be also found in the zone, feeding from the nectar while pollinizes the flowers, and so being an important agent of the maintenance of some forest plants.The red acutí and the tuco-tuco yungueño rodents can be found.In the high pasturelands inhabits the taruca or huemul from the north. This a grey deer (smaller than his andine-patagonic relative). It can be found in the limit of the eternal snow, although it prefers the valleys richer in vegetation, in more secure zones.The avifauna is build approximately by 400 species. The big toucan, the turkey of monte alisera, the real jote, the giant batará, the burgo and several species of hummingbirds and woodpeckers. In the Calilegua hills the marsupial frog of Jujuy, now seen in other similar places.

ACCESS

The Park can be accessed by the Nacional Road N° 34, which passes at the bottom of the Calilegua hills. By this road, the visitor can continue to San Salvador de Jujuy, 62mi from the Park. To the north, the National Road N° 34 goes to San Ramón de la Nueva Orán, at 95mi from the Park. Between the Libertador San Martín and Calilegua cities, the Statal Road N° 83 goes to the west. This cornice road traverse the Park, and allows the visitor to travel up to the 5454ft, getting into a wonderfull zone of landscape beauty.In Calilegua City, there is a bus that leaves San Martin Station at eight o´clock (AM), and arrives at the National park at t o´clock (PM).