San Francisco Pass

The San Francisco Pass is a pass over the Andes mountains which connects Argentina and Chile. The highest point of this pass is at 4726 m AMSL.

Location
The pass is located at -26.87639°N, -68.30139°W and connects the Argentine province of Catamarca with the Atacama Region in Chile. In the Argentine side, route N 60 ascends from Fiambala at 1505 m AMSL in a deep valley formed by 5000 m mountains. In the last sinuous 20 km, the route climbs from about 4000 m in Las grutas to more than 4700 m at the border.

On the Chilean side the route CH-31 connects Copiapó with the Chilean–Argentine border. On the way it passes next to Maricunga's salt flat on the Nevado Tres Cruces National Park and Laguna Verde. The area is surrounded by volcanoes and high peaks as the Cerro Falso Azufre (5906 m), the volcano San Francisco (6018 m), the Incahuasi (6638 m) and highest volcano in the world, Nevado Ojos del Salado (6879 m), among others.