Salta is a Historic city, very traditional, very receptive to tourists, very nice to eat, stay and to look to the pre-cordillera. One of the many tours one can do once in Salta is to hike Cerro San Bernardo. Well, you can also get to San Bernardo by cable car. The cable car leaves the city from Parque San Martín, this resort was built between 1987 and 1988 over the peak, as a result of its strategic position, watches over the entire urban area of Salta and part of the Lerma Valley. So, San Bernardo summit can be reached both by car and on foot.
On the top, the architecture harmonizes with the landscape. The terraces and balconies of the resort, built with rocks from the mountain itself, offer marvelous panoramic views. In the distance, the roads to Cafayate. Far beyond of that, the pre-cordillera stands to the skies as a great wall, two miles up from where you now stands.
Remember, San Bernardo is a heavily touristic mountain, and by that I mean, you'll see japanese people, brazilian people, argentinian, european, all of them tourists. Not many mountaineers, probably none can be seen doing what I have done. I was bored, looking to spend some time before I get to the bus station, so at the time, it seemed to be a good idea, and I think it was. The view were great, the company fun (Geraldito was a funny horny motherxxxxxx hehehe), and I got to warm up my legs before some good action over 17000 feet.
San Bernardo has a artificial waterfall which is great to observe and photograph insects. Practice long exposure shots at night, and also to enjoy some quiet time.
The only reason I did this mountain page is that, the fact that San Bernardo is a very popular destination in Salta, for those who are on their way to bigger andean summits, just passing by, and wanna get to know some diffrerent places like the fine Salta (so far, I was in Salta three times, best empanada of the country!). Maybe some Spers already know Salta, and maybe some of you already hiked. Who knows?
Getting There
Can ya read? Just read the sign and get goin'! You'll need about one hour to reach San Bernardo summit with all that hiking. The mountain jungle is gorgeous, whatch out for spiders, there's many of them (Nephila Clavips) hanging over your head all the way up. Harmless, but the bite hurt a great deal of pain.
Route
Walk from the cable car station (behind it) on the residential part, there's signs everywhere, just look at them and follow it untill you'll reach the sign which you see above, by its right it begins the trail up, over a thounsand steps to the summit. Lots of locals running, tourists. Note: You don't have to carry all your stuff like I did hehehe...
Red Tape
No red tapes at all.
Cable car fee: Around Ar$ 30.00 per person (to be checked upon arrival in town)
When to Climb
San Bernardo can be visited/ hiked year round.
Camping
No need to camp on this mountain, fast ascent and descent. In fact, camping is not allowed on San Bernardo since this is a urban mountain.
This could be quite dangerous too.
Weather Forecast
Click at the image to jump to Mountain Weather Forest website and check Salta Weather forecast.
Legal Issues
To hike/ climb is a dangerous activity and requires proper equipment and clothing, the owner of this page cannot be blamed by injuries caused to anyone who read this page for its info about the mountain, and eventually got hurt by doing so with reckless behaviour or bad weather conditions.
Paulo Roberto Felipe Schmidt – AKA: PAROFES
External Links
My youtube channel: www.youtube.com/parofes - Now with 270+ videos online!
The biggest brazilian website about climbing and mountaineering, for which I'm a columnist: