The Park of Talampaya
The area of Talampaya is 80 km away from the provincial route that links Patquía with Villa Unión to the west of the Province of La Rioja. The Province declared it Provincial Park in the year 1975 and in 1998 it became a National Park.
The Park of Talampaya is the canyon of the Río del Tala which belongs to the Formación del Colorado. It is approximately 40 km long, (215.000 hectares) but the tourist can only visit part of it and he has to be accompanied by a guide.
CIRCUITOS.
Talampaya has often been compared to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado.
The name Talampaya is a quichua word and it means the Dry River of the Tala, ( Tala is a tree, Celtis Spinosa). The walls of the valley are 140 m high and they belong to the triasic period and are 230 million years old. Many petroglyphs have been found in the canyon and they are approximately 600 years old. These pictographies have often been compared to the Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands) in the Province of Santa Cruz.

During the triasic period the alluviums carried by the river were deposited in the valley. This accumulation of ash started cracking. This, added to rain and wind gave the canyon the current formations. The sand transported by the wind was deposited on the sides of the hills forming big dunes.
The different periods of time ant the changes can be observed in the different levels of parallel and crossed sedimentation.
Many excellent discoveries were made in the Park of Talampaya such as the fossilised skeleton of a 220 millon year old animal called the Rioja Saurius. It is exhibited in the Institute of Anthropology of the University of La Rioja. The University scientists discovered it in the valley. They also discovered mummies and material of domestic use.
From the paleonthological point of view Talampaya is not as important as the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) in the Province of San Juán, but the impressive canyon, eroded for centuries, surprises the visitor. Talampaya is also one of the best places to see the condor. The curious natural formations have been baptised with the names of Cathedrals, The Magi, The Organ, Two Heads, The Monk, The Manger, The Castle, The Hawk, Artemis.