El Leoncito National Park
The El Leoncito National Park is a protected area in the Argentine province of San Juan (in the south of the Calingasta department ). It has existed since 1994 and was declared a national park in 2002, which covers an area of 760 km². The aim is to protect the local puna with the associated flora (mainly shrubs ) and fauna (including guanacos , Darwin's rheas and peregrine falcons ). In addition, there are archaeological and palaeontological sites worth protecting in the national park (including the remains of an old Inca trail ). Due to the good visibility (few clouds, steppe-like / desert-like climate) and the seclusion (no air pollution , no light pollution ) there are two observatories in the national park, the Leoncito astronomical facility and the Felix Aguilar observatory . The national park is very isolated, the next places with more than 2,000 inhabitants are Barreal , 30 km north of the park and Calingasta , 70 km north of the park.
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Coordinates: 31 ° 48 ′ 0 ″ S , 69 ° 22 ′ 0 ″ W.