National Park Los Cardones, Salta, Argentina

This Park is located in the center-west of the Province of Salta, in the Departments Cachi and San Carlos. It was created in 1996 when the formal managements concluded to acquire the land that was of private property. It occupies an interesting sample book of 65,000 hectares of the nature of mountain ranges and dry gorges between the 2,700 and 5,000 meters of height. The bushy formation with dominion of cardones, typical of the Prepuna, that coexist with communities characteristic of Monte and, in the summits, of the Puna and the Altos Andes.

The landscape is dominated in some zones by impressive "cardones", Trichocereus pasacana. The name of the species, “pasacana”, derives from one old legend of the place:

It is said that Pasakana, daughter of a powerful Kuraka (Inca chief), did not have the consent of their father to marry, and escaped with his loved Kehuaillu. The enamored ones requested protection to the Pachamama (Mother Earth), and were sheltered generously in one of their earth mantles. Thus Kehuaillu arose surrounded by a green poncho and inside he is embracing his loved candy. Since then, when Pasakana wants to see the beauty of hills, and not to be recognized, she takes the form of a beautiful cactus flower.