Puente del Inca

The Puente del Inca natural monument is a protected natural area of the province of Mendoza in Argentina, adjacent to the town of Puente del Inca.

It is located at an altitude of 2700 masl, on the Andes mountain range and between the Banderita Norte and Banderita Sur hills, in the Las Heras department, Las Cuevas district. It is 183 km from the city of Mendoza by National Route 7, near the pass to Chile, and the main entrance of the Aconcagua Provincial Park.

This geomorphological curiosity is about 48 meters long, 28 wide and 8 thick, and is suspended 27 meters above the river. A series of stalactites, calcium inflorescences and winter ice needles hang from this natural bridge.

The formation was produced by the water erosion of the Las Cuevas river that created a passage through the moraines (sediments by the retreat of glaciers) deposited in the valley with the shape of a trough ("U"). The thermal mining waters then cemented the area with a ferruginous casing, which gave it its curious shape and a color in the shades of orange, yellow and ocher.

At the height of the bridge, on the right bank of the river, there are five hot springs of the same type but with different saline components and temperatures ranging from 33 to 38 ° C; they are called: Venus, Mars, Saturn, Mercury and Champagne. It is considered that water has healing and anti-stress properties because it is rich in salts and sodium chloride, alkaline, arsenical, bicarbonate, calcium and sulfur. The transparency is given by iron peroxide and algae, which favor decantation. These properties also cause the objects exposed to these waters to be mineralized with a ferruginous cover in less than 40 days