Track condition north of Ollagüe | Warning

January 23rd, 2024 by Eric

We drove between Olague to the laguna Coposa. The track was in very Bad condition especially in the sector of Ujina. It was raining the previous night. Lots of ravines and flooded areas. Without 4x4 and the 3 differential locks and reductors, we couldn't have passed.

July 28th, 2023 by roaming_dutchies

This road is okay. Gravel road with some washboards, but not too bad, we’ve seen much worse conditions. Doable with 2WD also. Don’t worry!

March 9th, 2023 by remivanriet

After reading below comments we decided to give this route a go with our 2WD Toyota 4Runner, direction Iquique to Ollargüe. No issues at all, the road is a bit rough in places, but no steep parts. Was happy with our high clearance in some parts. And yes, there's some washboards, as in most dirt roads. The whole unpaved part is about 90km, of which only 25 is narrow tracks. the other parts are wide, and the last 30kms are being prepared for asfalt, so very wide and reasonable quality.

Conclusion: if your up for a little adventure, do this route! It offers great scenery and isn't really that bad. Took us about 2,5 hours.

February 25th, 2022 by Funstainable

We took this track from Ollagüe upwards. They are still working on the road. The first fifteen kilometers were in pretty good shape, but after that there quite a few challenging parts where we used our 4-wheel drive. We would not recommend this road with a 2wd, but if you happen to be in the area with 4wd then this definitely a scenic drive not to miss.

May 8th, 2021 by transhumances.eu

We drove from the Salar de Coposa to Ollague with a 2WD van and we made it! There's a lot of washboard and some sandy part, but doable. The worst part was going down in the canyon, a lot of holes and rocks, just have to drive very slowly and carefully. But I'm not sure we would have been able to go up (Ollague=>Coposa). There's road work the last 25km to Ollague. Very scenic drive!

May 4th, 2021 by smidovi.wordpress.com

Right now the first 26km from Ollague are under reconstruction. No send sections. Only bad part is the section near the coordinates in the canyon, bit rocky but possible to to do it with 2wd.

March 8th, 2020 by deinemuddi83

We made it through with a 2wd but it was not fun. Got stuck once in a long sandy part. But made it out thanks to dry bushes next to the road.
When you get there try to avoid the others cars trails. Very soft sand there. Best to check condition by foot before entering.

November 15th, 2019 by insta

We passed with a 2WD without any issue from Salar del Huasco to Ollagüe. There’s some sand patches, potholes and washboard, but nothing technically challenging. I imagine with time and weather the surface could deteriorate. We were able to roll at a pretty good clip for most of it, but be cautious of the surprises around blind corners. A bit north of here the carabineros waved at us to ask where we were going. They didn’t even ask for our passports or show much concern. We rate the scenery is 4.5/5 stars.

June 14th, 2019 by eurostones

This gravel road we did after the border crossing from Bolivia to Chili in Ollague. The road is well maintained and in very good condition. We never needed our 4wd or reduction. For us, it was in no single passage steep. In dry season we are sure, every 2wd can easily handle this road in an amazing landscape.

January 20th, 2019 by verictrips

We agree about the fact that a 4WD is mandatory. to do the Ruta Andina, as it is named. We did not go to the carabinieros and nothing special happened. We only crossed one car of tourists for the whole day... no drug or car smuggler.. This must be an urban legend... We even slept along the road, past the Collahuasi mine.
The landscape is nice, with volcanoes all around...

April 6th, 2018 by ipushpedals.com

road is horrible. 4wd is a must and you have to know what you are doing. check in with the police before departure, this road is used by cocaine smugglers from and to bolivia and is the road where they take the stolen cars from Calama to Bolivia. As for bicycles hard road, 30 kms in 6 hours. Many sand traps and lots of pushing, no water options at all.

June 4th, 2016 by AndreasKramer.ch

The track (on chilean side) north of Ollagüe is in bad condition. A normal 4x4 can get thru, but we definitively do not recommend a 2WD. It is washed out VERY corrugated and steep in parts. When you get to Ujina about 53kms north, the track gets gradually better and at point -20.859078 -68.601248 its bitumen. BUT most of it goes thru a vastland of a mining area: power lines, ditches, barriers, water piplines, debrit fields.... WARNING: the carabineros in Ollagüe did not want to let us drive this track. They wanted to divert us to the check points (aduanas) far down at Ruta 5 or Ruta 1 (panamericana) because all cars have to be checked when driving from chilean region 2 to region 1 !!!