The Valley of the Moon Bolivia

The Valley of the Moon is a geological formation located about 10 kilometers away from the urban center of La Paz Bolivia. It’s a protected area and belongs to the district of Mallasa.

Keep reading to discover why this Valley is one of the most visited places in La Paz. You´ll find out more about this interesting valley and how to get there.

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It’s said that Neil Armstrong himself named this enigmatic place as the “Valley of the Moon” because of its great resemblance to the craters that he saw on his trip to the moon.

After this, the people from La Paz took advantage of the new name and transformed this place into a tourist attraction.

The Valley of the Moon was formed due to erosion consuming the upper part of a mountain, made up of clay soil. Over the centuries it has exercised its modeling and winds and rains have built this spectacular and unusual landscape of white chimneys.

At the “Valle de la Luna” you won’t find rocks since it’s all clay and sandstone. The place is basically a museum of stalagmites, a pure and hard desert with a formation similar to the one in the Valle de Animas. But if something stands out, it is the change of colors that you will find in this area, depending on the type of mineral content found in each mountain (most are brown / beige but they can also turn into a dark reddish color).

How to get there

To get to Valle de la Luna, you have the following options:

• Book a tour in one of the several tour agencies in La Paz, they will provide you with private transportation, a bilingual guide and the entrance fee( which is usually included in the price).
• If you are more the adventure type, then you can go to the Valle on your own. Since the place is very near downtown La Paz, you can get there by taxi or bus in around 40 minutes.If you take the bus, first you need to go to the paradero near San Francisco Church and Sagarnaga Street and catch the bus from there. Just make sures it goes to Mallasa. After 40 minutes you´ll be there.

There are two circular trails to choose from in the Valle de la Luna, each of them will lead you to different viewpoints. Devil’s Point (the most spectacular viewpoint) is towards the end of the longest track, which takes around 45 minutes to complete. The other track is much shorter, only 15 minutes to complete.

At the entrance you’ll spot a tourist information center where you have to pay the fee to get inside and pick up trail maps. In here you can also find a toilet in case you need to use it before starting the visit.

If you are in La Paz don’t miss the chance to visit the Valley of the moon and enjoy the spectacular view of the surreal moon-like landscape. To find out about more places to visit in Bolivia, click here.