5-day Atacama Desert Camping Trip Off the Beaten Path
PlanetaEXO
TripsChileAtacama

5-day Atacama Desert Camping Trip Off the Beaten Path

Atacama
0 Nights·5 Days
Atacama DesertHiking & TrekkingActive Adventures

Overview

Discover northern Chile’s dramatic landscapes on a 5-day Atacama Desert camping expedition! Crafted for adventurous travelers, this off-the-beaten-path journey invites you to explore vibrant highlands by day and sleep under clear starlit skies by night. Departing from standard tourist routes, you will discover the serene silence and open horizons of the high-altitude nature.

Enjoy camping in two distinct locations to fully experience the wilderness. Spend a night in Cactus Valley surrounded by giant cardón cacti, followed by an evening in the mountain village of Machuca at 4,000 meters. Sleeping at these secluded campsites immerses you directly in the vast, pristine scenery.

Your itinerary features scenic bicycle rides, guided walks, and a trek along a ravine to Cascada Escondida Waterfall. Highlight destinations include Garganta del Diablo, Moon Valley, and the unique geology of the Cordillera del Sal. Altogether, the journey includes around 15.5 km on foot plus a 2 to 2.5-hour cycling route.

  • Full itinerary: a bike ride to the Garganta del Diablo, Moon Valley in the morning, the Cactus Valley hike and camp, the hidden waterfall trek, a night in Machuca, and the herders’ trail from Machuca to Río Grande.
  • Two nights of Atacama camping in your own tent, with a sleeping bag, mattress, thermal insulation, and headlamp provided.
  • Trek 3 km along a ravine to Cascada Escondida, a waterfall of about 6 m with a pool to cool off.
  • Activities guided by a certified local mountain guide, trained in first aid, in a group of up to 8 guests.
  • Sleep at 4,000 m (13,123 ft) in Machuca, after climbing step by step from San Pedro at 2,450 m.
  • An Andean cosmovision talk under the Atacama Desert stars, after dinner at the Cactus Valley camp.
  • Flamingos, vicuñas, Andean geese, and giant coots around the Machuca wetland.
  • Activities guided by a certified local mountain guide, trained in first aid, in a group of up to 8 guests.
  • All-inclusive experience: airport transfers from Calama, 2 lodge nights and 2 camping nights, the camping and bike equipment, meals, and a certified guide.

  • Please note: the itinerary is a suggested plan. Times and the order of the activities may change with the weather and trail and park conditions; your guide confirms the plan each day.

Itinerary

Day 1

Arrival in Calama / Transfer to San Pedro de Atacama / Bike Ride to the Garganta del Diablo

  • ArrivalCalama Airport (CJC) · Transfer to San Pedro de Atacama
  • Bike ride2–2.5h round trip · Garganta del Diablo canyon
  • Entrance feeCatarpe included

Your Atacama Desert adventure starts at Calama Airport, where the local team meets you and drives you to San Pedro de Atacama, a village of adobe houses at 2,450 m. After check-in at the lodge, set off on the first activity.

This bike tour follows dirt trails through eroded ravines and narrow rock corridors to the Garganta del Diablo, a passage between towering walls of rock and salt. The ride takes 1 to 1.5 hours each way, with 20 to 30 minutes to explore the canyon.

The bicycle, helmet, reflective vest, tool kit, puncture kit, and a snack are included. The evening is free in San Pedro.

Meals included: None

A cyclist with an orange backpack rides a dirt road through the eroded salt and rock formations of Valle de la Luna during an Atacama Desert camping expedition, with Andean peaks fading into the haze on the horizon.
Sharp serrated ridgeline of deep red rock formations rising against a clear blue sky in the Atacama desert camping region of northern Chile
Wide panoramic view of deeply eroded rust-brown badlands under a clear blue sky, typical of the arid terrain explored on an atacama desert camping expedition, with layered hills and a narrow trail winding through the valley floor
A lone cyclist rides through a narrow canyon corridor of towering eroded ochre and rust-coloured rock walls during an atacama desert camping expedition in northern Chile

Day 2

Moon Valley in the Morning / Lunch in San Pedro / Cactus Valley Hike and Camp

  • Moon ValleyDuna Mayor walk 1.5 km · 1h · Victoria Mine 35 min · Mirador Ckari 2,590 m
  • Cactus Valley hike2 km · 2h · ~3,000 m (9,843 ft)
  • Cactus Valley CampIndividual tents · Dinner at 8 PM · Cosmovision talk

At 9 AM, drive into the Cordillera de la Sal to the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley), managed by Indigenous communities of San Pedro. The first walk runs 1.5 km along the ridges of the Duna Mayor, with views over the Amphitheater and the central crater.

Walk 35 minutes through the ruins of the Victoria Mine, where salt was mined (machinery, miners’ homes, and salt deposits). After the Tres Marías rock formations, climb to Mirador Ckari, the highest point of the Cordillera de la Sal at 2,590 m.

Lunch is at 1 PM in the garden of the team’s base in San Pedro, with hammocks under the trees and time to buy anything you need. At 3:30 PM, a 35-minute drive takes you to the Cactus Valley, at about 3,000 m, for the first official night of camping in the Atacama Desert.

The Cactus Valley is a ravine the Atacameño people call Gatchi, with ruins and archaeological remains from ancient herding routes. Hike 2 km in 2 hours among cardón cacti, up to 10 m tall, to the camp.

Takes break to watch the sunset before dinner at 8 PM. Later, the guide shares the Andean cosmovision—what the sky means to the Indigenous communities of the desert.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

A small group of hikers silhouetted against a salt flat and layered volcanic mountains during an atacama desert camping expedition, with sparse golden grass in the foreground and dramatic storm clouds above
A smooth sand dune foreground leads to jagged, layered red and ochre rock formations of Valle de la Luna, with a wide arid plateau and pale blue sky behind, on an atacama desert camping expedition in Chile.
Two smiling travelers peering through a barred window opening in a crumbling salt-encrusted stone wall at the Victoria Mine ruins, part of an atacama desert camping day in Moon Valley
Close-up of jagged, crystalline salt crust formations layered over dark sediment, typical of the mineral-rich terrain encountered on an atacama desert camping expedition
Eroded salt and rock formations rise from a white salt-crusted plain in Valle de la Luna, Atacama desert camping country, under a wide blue sky with billowing clouds
The Milky Way galactic core arches across the night sky above a dark mountain silhouette during atacama desert camping, with two warm glowing lights visible on the distant plain below

Day 3

Hidden Waterfall Trek / Drive to Machuca / Camp at 4,000 m

  • Cascada Escondida trek3 km · 4h · Waterfall of about 6 m
  • Climb to the vehicle45 min uphill
  • Drive to Machuca40 km · ~50 min · 4,000 m (13,123 ft)
  • Machuca CampIndividual tents · Dinner at 7 PM

Breakfast is at 8 AM at camp, brought fresh from San Pedro by the team that morning. After packing your personal belongings, head out at 10 AM on a 4-hour, 3 km trek along the ravine to Cascada Escondida. As you navigate streams and rocky terrain, your guide will point out local fauna, flora, and native cactus species. A snack is provided along the trail.

The waterfall drops about 6 m into a pool where you can cool off. Spend about an hour there, then climb 45 minutes to the vehicle, which you reach around 4 PM.

A 40 km drive takes you to Machuca in the Atacama highlands, an Indigenous village at 4,000 m, by 5 PM. The village lives from llama herding around its bofedal, a high-Andean wetland where you can see flamingos, Andean geese, and giant coots.

Your tent is ready in the village. Machuca has shared bathrooms and showers at the village hostel and a phone signal. Dinner is at 7 PM.

Meals included: Breakfast / Trail lunch / Dinner

A large herd of llamas with mixed brown and white fleece walks down the center of a paved two-lane road curving through an arid Andean highland landscape, with dry rocky hills and a wide desert plain visible in the background — a scene typical of the routes encountered on an atacama desert camping expedition.
A hiker with a backpack leaps across a shallow stream on flat rocks inside a narrow desert canyon with towering sandstone walls during an atacama desert camping expedition
A whitewashed adobe church with a blue cross and ichu-grass-thatched arch frames an Atacama desert camping journey, with a Chilean flag flying against a deep blue sky and red volcanic walls surrounding the courtyard
A lone vicuña stands on the open gravel plain of the Atacama desert camping landscape, with barren volcanic mountains and a wide blue sky behind it

Day 4

Herders’ Trail from Machuca to Río Grande / Return to San Pedro / Free Afternoon

  • Machuca → Río Grande hike9 km · ~5h
  • On the wayTerraced fields of San Juan and Peñaliri
  • ReturnRío Grande → San Pedro de Atacama
  • HotelSan Pedro de Atacama

Breakfast is at 7:30 AM. Pack only your daypack, as the support vehicle takes the rest of the gear down to San Pedro and waits for you at the end of the trail.

At 9 AM, start at the Machuca wetland and follow the old access path that linked the herders of Machuca with the farmers of Río Grande. On the way, pass the ancient terraced fields of San Juan and Peñaliri, two abandoned villages. The hike covers 9 km in about 5 hours.

At Río Grande in the Atacama, the vehicle drives you back to San Pedro for lunch at the team’s base, marking the end of the expedition. The afternoon is free to walk Caracoles (the main street) and to have dinner in the village.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch

A group of hikers with trekking poles and backpacks walks single file along a sandy trail through low desert scrub toward a rounded volcanic hill during an atacama desert camping expedition in Chile
A herd of domestically kept llamas with colorful ear tags grazing among low green shrubs on a rocky Andean hillside, part of the atacama desert camping highland route near Machuca.
Traditional red stone and adobe structures with thatched straw roofs in an arid Andean highland setting, surrounded by dry scrub and rocky terrain typical of atacama desert camping country
Two hikers with trekking poles and loaded backpacks descend a rocky high-altitude ridge on an atacama desert camping expedition, with a broad volcanic landscape, pale sulfur deposits, and dark cone-shaped peaks stretching to the horizon under a partly cloudy sky
Four llamas of mixed colours crossing a road during an atacama desert camping expedition, with a wide open altiplano, low scrub, and a distant volcanic peak under a bright cumulus sky

Day 5

Transfer to Calama Airport

  • TransferSan Pedro de Atacama → Calama Airport
  • DepartureFlight home or onward

After breakfast at the lodge, the local team drives you to Calama Airport for your flight.

Meals included: Breakfast

A perfectly conical snow-capped volcano rises above a sparse high-altitude scrubland plain under a clear blue sky, typical of the Atacama desert camping landscape in northern Chile.
Layered red rock formations in the Atacama Desert with a snow-capped conical volcano rising behind them under a pale blue sky

What is Included

  • Round-trip transfer (Calama Airport ⇌ San Pedro de Atacama)
  • 2-night stay at Terrantai Lodge Andino in San Pedro de Atacama (Intiwasi room), on Nights 1 and 4
  • 2 nights camping in individual tents: Cactus Valley (Night 2) and Machuca Village (Night 3)
  • Meals as listed in the itinerary
  • Camping equipment for each guest (tent, mattress, thermal insulation, sleeping bag and headlamp)
  • Bike ride equipment (bicycle, helmet, reflective vest, tool kit, puncture kit and a snack)
  • Catarpe entrance fee (Day 1)
  • A 500 ml water bottle for the whole trip, refilled by the team
  • Transport during the trip, including the support vehicle that carries the gear
  • Guided tours (bike ride to the Garganta del Diablo, Moon Valley, the Cactus Valley hike, the Cascada Escondida trek, Machuca, and the trail from Machuca to Río Grande)
  • Certified local mountain guide, trained in first aid, for a group of up to 8 guests

Not included

  • Flight tickets
  • Meals not listed in the itinerary
  • Entrance fees not listed under Included
  • Travel insurance
  • Drinks other than water
  • Tips for guides and drivers
  • Personal expenses

FAQ

Reviews

“We were a group of 4 people and we were very satisfied with the attention and service offered by the agency from start to finish. The tours were great! We'd like to highlight the professionalism and friendliness of our guides: Diego, Javier, Hugo and Nacho. They did a fantastic job and made our trip even more special. We had a problem on one of the days, but the solution was quick and effective, thanks to the intervention of Leon and the team. The meals offered during the tours were, in general, of great quality and very tasty! Besides the traditional tours, we did two experiences that exceeded expectations and that we recommend to everyone: Camping and Sandboarding! Those two were extra special and are well worth it!”

— Gabrielle P

“We did a few tours and all of them were exceptional! They are a hostel and also a tourism agency, super organized, with great facilities and punctual. We did desert camping, a tour of the valle de la luna and the climb up cerro toco. The guides were all experienced and very attentive, always alert to any need, and the food was wonderful. The camping with Klaus far exceeded our expectations; besides the great setup, he's almost an encyclopedia. He knows a lot about the region and was also very friendly and helpful. The climb up cerro toco was with Leonardo, always concerned about our safety and motivating us during the climb. He made it look easy.”

— Larissa B

“Very good willingness to help from the first contact via email/WhatsApp from Paula and Felipe. EXCELLENT guides: Klaus, Jonathan and Roberto, of whom I highlight their great knowledge of the topics, good vibe and kindness. We did the El Tatio geysers; camping under the stars + cactus valley + hidden waterfall; Cejar, Piedras and Tebenquiche lagoons + Ojos del Salar; and the salt mountain range. One better than the other! I don't want to forget to mention that on all the excursions we had some little meal (breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack) and everything was delicious! Without a doubt, great professionals to recommend!”

— Leti M

“Before going to Atacama, I contacted more than 10 tourism agencies in the town of San Pedro. I tirelessly looked for an agency that offered a personalized service. The thing is, the agencies in town, including the most famous ones focused on the Brazilian public, offer a service they call "exclusive and personalized", but which is actually extremely rigid. And of course, that's not what I wanted. I had a schedule defined by the group (there were 8 of us friends) and I insisted on following it. Paula and Leon, who are in charge of running the tours, understood the group's needs, respected the schedule, accommodated each of our requests and surprised us with an exclusive, excellent service. The agency also gave us Diego, an incredible guide who made our tours even more fun. Tours done with the agency:- Cejar Lagoon + Laguna Tebenquiche + ojos de salar - Valle de La Luna (with sunset)- Geyser Del Tatio - Piedras Rojas y Lagunas Altiplánicas Miscanti y Meñiques - Camping at Guatin - Termas de puritamaJust for the record, I recommend ALL of them!”

— Rafael

“We had a very great time doing an hiking close to San Pedro with Leon. He was very nice and made up a personalized tour according to our needs and timetable.The places were amazing and he also explained us a lot about of the geology and history of the place. Best guided tour we had so far.”

— Matteo F

“Super good experience, guide with vast knowledge and caring. They gave us snacks and juices. Super kind and empathetic.”

— Lucía

“We had 3 tours with them, and they were all incredible. The guides were excellent, manuel, león, paula and JP; besides having a lot of knowledge, they were very friendly! We booked a tour with riverside camping and it was extraordinary. They take care of everything: transportation, meals and tents. Without a doubt I recommend them, and when we come back we'll go to them again!”

— Diego

“We stumbled on this trekking agency whilst looking for somewhere to take us to see cacti. Leon greeted us and informed us of his personalised cactus trek, he told us we'd see some amazing sites, and we were hooked. We just didn't expect it to be quite as incredible as it turned out! Leon and Paula were extremely hospitable, and very kind - they really understand great service! They provided picked us up from our accommodation and supplied us with plenty of sandwiches and snacks! They drove us around 20-30 minutes out of town to the cactus canyons where we started our cactus trek. The trek is of easy difficulty, they gave us helmets and walking sticks (and we wish we wore better shoes!), and it involves a circle trek around the canyon. Leon is an experienced hiker, and the route he took us on was phenomenal!! The mix of water in the desert, with the 8m high cacti and the special caves dotted through the trek made it our best experience of the Atacama Desert (and we had jam packed days!). This trek is by far the most fun and breathtaking hike we have ever done, the scenery is beautiful, Leon's knowledge of the area and history is incredible, and the service of Leon and Paula by far surpassed all our expectations! 10000% recommended!”

— Muhammad N

Check availability for your trip

Free inquiry – no commitment

Who's joining the adventure?

2
0

Your next trip

Travel date*

Tell us about your trip

Contact details

How should we contact you?*

From

$ 2,652/ per person