Árbol de Piedra
Interesting facts
- Geomorphologists class the Stone Tree as a rock mushroom, a landform in which wind-driven sand wears the base far faster than the top.
- The reserve around the Stone Tree is named after Eduardo Abaroa (1838–1879), a Bolivian national hero of the War of the Pacific.
- The surrounding reserve receives only about 76 mm of rain a year, and its average temperature hovers around 3 °C.
- Nearby Laguna Colorada owes its red colour to sediments and the salt-loving alga Dunaliella salina, and is dotted with white islands of borax.
- Laguna Colorada is less than 1 m deep, shallow enough for its flamingos to walk across it.
- The highest summit within the reserve, Sairecabur on the Chilean border, rises to about 5,971 m.
- In 2018 the reserve that holds the Stone Tree drew about 153,000 visitors.
Why it is worth it
The Árbol de Piedra, the Stone Tree, is a single rock about 7 m tall standing on the high sands of south-western Bolivia, shaped so precisely like a stunted, wind-bent tree that it has become one of the best-known images of the Bolivian Altiplano. A broad, rough crown sits on a strikingly thin stem, as if the whole thing might topple at any moment.
The rock is a ventifact — a form carved by wind-blown sand. On this exposed plateau strong winds drive grains of sand close to the ground, and over time the soft rock has been worn away much more at its base, leaving the narrow trunk and wide head. The Stone Tree stands among other eroded outcrops protruding from the sand dunes of the Siloli desert.
The Siloli desert lies within the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve in Sur Lípez Province, Potosí Department. Created in December 1973, the reserve covers about 7,150 km² at altitudes between 4,200 and 5,400 m, bordering both Chile and Argentina, and it is the most visited protected area in Bolivia. About 18 km south of the Stone Tree lies Laguna Colorada a lake of some 60 km² at 4,278 m that supports large numbers of Andean, James's and Chilean flamingos. Further south the reserve takes in the geysers and hot springs of Sol de Mañana, Laguna Verde and a line of high volcanoes including Licancabur, Uturuncu and Ollagüe. Since 2009 the whole reserve has been part of the Los Lípez Ramsar site.
Getting there
The nearest town as the crow flies is Calama in Chile, about 116 km away, with El Loa Airport (CJC) at the same distance, but both lie across the international border. Within Bolivia, the nearest town is Tupiza, about 234 km away in a straight line, and the nearest airport is Joya Andina International Airport (UYU) at Uyuni, about 208 km away. The Stone Tree is reached overland across the Altiplano, on the route through the reserve that also leads to Laguna Colorada.
Plan your visit
We have no confirmed visit data yet. Once it is confirmed, this block also carries the date it was checked.
Nearby places
- Laguna Colorada 19.4 km · lake
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From the encyclopaedia
Árbol de Piedra is an isolated ventifact rock formation in the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve of Sur Lípez Province, Bolivia. Much photographed, it projects out of the altiplano sand dunes of Siloli in the Potosí Department, about 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of Laguna Colorada. Known as the "Stone Tree," it is shaped like a stunted tree about 7 metres high. Its shape, particularly the thin stem, is due to strong winds carrying sand and eroding the soft sandstone.
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