10 roads you must ride in Chile and Argentina

(Approx 1,240km)

The Carretera Austral through Chile is a road that will satisfy your soul. It begins from the seaside town of Puerto Montt in the north (where Chile’s Lake District ends), to the village of Villa O’Higgins in the south, snaking south for 1,240 kilometres into a land of dense forests, snow-tipped mountains, glacial streams, islands and swift-flowing rivers.

We spent a week riding Carretera Austral’s dirt roads, which was well worth the extra effort, despite the gravelly, muddy and corrugated parts. The pothole-peppered track took us hundreds of metres above sea level on Mount Jeinimeni, which gave us day-long views of a lake the size of a city.

Everything is super-sized – we felt like a dot in the landscape as we wound our way up and down the mountain passes. Take extra care. There are no barriers on some of the steep hairpin bends, and the road is gravelly and corrugated.

Just north of Chile Chico, the ground either side of the Carretera Austral changed dramatically with barren plains giving way to a grassy, lush landscape. The orange, reds and russet leaves of autumn were just appearing and the sight and vegetation soothed our souls. Queulat National Park is definitely worth the detour off the Carretera Austral too – here you’ll find The Hanging Glacier.

(Approx 209km)

Some fantastic off-road riding. Your efforts on the loose gravel, stretches of sand and corrugations will be rewarded with a pastel, watercolour landscape of soft textures – chiefly creamy mochas, milk chocolate and swirling dark browns.

You’ll also pass Laguna Miscanti and Miniques, two sparkling brackish lakes, one a blue curacao liqueur colour and the other a beautiful inky midnight blue. En route, you’ll also come across Salar de Talar, a glittering, salty lake the same aquamarine blue as the Indian Ocean. Make sure you stop and dangle your legs over the edge of iron red rocks, perfectly rounded and smoothed by the blasting winds. It’s possible to enter Argentina at the border of Paso de Sico but remember to stamp your passport out in Chile’s San Pedro de Atacama, 145 miles away.

(Approx 300km)

Get ready for an earthy, rollicking feast of fun. We bobbled over loose gravel, frozen streams, slushy mud and oodles of slippery sand. The ride was worth it just to see what I labelled ‘Boulder World’, an incredibly impressive collection of stand-alone rocks bigger than an average sized house, some the size of ships. Be warned: It’s not for the faint-hearted or those who prefer smooth tarmac. Both of our bikes went down a few times. But we survived!