So many of the best day trips from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile require joining a guided tour. After five excursions in town, I was ready to explore on my own. Luckily, it’s fun and easy to rent a bike to visit some of the nearby attractions. I took my rental bike to the nearby Devil’s Throat, which involves some fun biking through towering canyons until you reach a great view of the surrounding area.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Devil’s Throat.
Renting a Bike in San Pedro de Atacama
There are numerous bike rental companies in San Pedro de Atacama. Just walk along Caracoles street (and the nearby streets), and you’ll be sure to find one. At the advice of my hostel, I went to Ciclo Adventura Atacama. There I paid 8000 CLP (about $9 USD) for a bike for six hours. I thought this was a great deal considering the last bike rental I did was in Uruguay where I paid $15 USD for the day.
The good news is that my bike in San Pedro de Atacama was so much better than my rental bike that I took to Santa Teresa National Park in Uruguay. It was lighter, easier to maneuver, had better shocks, and they were even able to put a cushion on the seat to convert it from a men’s bike to a woman’s bike. They also provided a helmet and a phone number for support should you run into any issues.
If the good bike wasn’t enough, the owner was also great and was ready and willing to go over routes and recommendations with you. Needless to say that I highly recommend them.
Biking to the Devil’s Throat
This is my experience while biking to Devil’s Throat from San Pedro de Atacama. I left my hostel early-ish in the morning. I left at 9:00 am (though I meant to start even earlier), walked the short distance to the bike rental shop, and was on my way at about 9:30. This is what I would recommend for anyone who’s looking to bike to Devil’s Throat.
Start early in the day, both because it’s much hotter later in the day, but also there are many more tourists later in the day. I passed many more people entering Devil’s Throat as I was leaving.
If you don’t want to bike early in the day, the other option is to go late in the day and try and time your visit with sunset.
San Pedro de Atacama to Park Entrance
From the bike rental shop, you’ll bike about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) until you reach the ticket office for Devil’s Throat. This route is pretty easy and it’s hard to get lost (though I got rerouted because of some construction). Elevation wise, I only gained 100 feet for the entire 2.5 miles, so it’s pretty flat which is nice.
You may find a tiny bit of traffic as you’re leaving San Pedro de Atacama, but it’s nothing heavy. Just be aware of your surroundings.
Park Entrance to the Devil’s Throat Turn Off
At the park entrance, you’ll need to pay a fee. However, before you pay this fee, you’ll have to listen to a quick safety talk. My talk was in Spanish and I was able to get the gist of what they were saying. Basically they just want to point out the different areas you can visit and how long you should plan for each section. I think I ended up biking a bit faster than what they said, but their estimates are a good starting point.
After listening to that safety talk, pay your entrance fee. It’s 5000 CLP (about $5 USD) to enter the park. Also note that this is a good time to use the bathroom if you need it. I didn’t see any other bathrooms within the park.
From this entrance station, it’s about 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) to the turn off to Devil’s Throat. While the ride from San Pedro de Atacama to the park entrance was fine, there was anything noteworthy. Now, you get to start seeing some mountains and the scenery starts to get better.
Biking the Devil’s Throat
You’ve made it to the turn of to Devil’s Throat and the biking gets more fun. From this turn off to the end of the road (where you’ll hike up to the viewpoint), it’s about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers). It’s a nice ride and it’s mostly flat, but it is slightly uphill. I actually didn’t realize I was going uphill until the way back when I realized I had to pedal a lot less. In total, you only gain about 200 feet of elevation through this section if you follow the main route.
A few bikes have made their own path to try and have a bit more fun with their mountain bikes, so you might have a little more up and down if you so choose. But in the end, it’s still pretty flat. Just remember that you are at at 8000 feet above sea level (2400 meters).
The route is fun and you’ll have canyon walls on both sides of you as you work your way around turns. It’s a very fun ride, so enjoy it.
One important note is that there are two places where you’ll have to get off your bike and lift it up a ledge. I’m not very tall and while I made it just fine on one of the steps, I did have to ask for help on the second step.
Hiking to the Mirador
Now it’s time to get off your bike and start hiking up the mountain. You’ll know it’s time when you reach a sign that says “Fin de Camino”. Most people will bike just a little bit beyond this sign to the base of the mountain before they start their hike.
It’s just under one mile round trip from the bottom of the mountain to the viewpoint (though there are plenty of viewpoints along the way.
Despite being only a half mile to the top, it is about 400 feet of elevation gain. That’s not terrible, but when you’re at over 8,000 feet above sea level, you’ll undoubtedly find yourself huffing and puffing. Go slow and take a minute to enjoy some of the views on your way to the top.
When you’re ready, hike back down the mountain and get back on your bike.
Mirador to the Devil’s Throat Turn Off
This was my favorite section of the day. There was just enough downhill to make it a very easy ride while still having all of the great scenery and fun terrain as the first part of the day.
The only thing to note is that I passed many more bikers on my way out of the canyon. It’s not a big deal, but you do need to be prepared and watch where you’re going. For reference, I hardly passed anyone on the way to the mirador.
Devil’s Throat Turn Off to the Chapel
From the turn off to Devil’s Throat, it’s another two miles to a small chapel at the end of the road. This is slightly uphill (I logged about 150 feet), but it’s still not too hard.
If I’m completely honest, I’m not sure if it was worth detouring to the chapel. Was it a nice ride? Sure. But along the way, I passed plenty of construction and mining equipment which wasn’t as fun. Plus, I don’t think the views are better here than they are elsewhere in the park. And the ride itself is nowhere near as good as the road to Devil’s Throat.
In the end it’s your choice if you want to add the extra four miles (roundtrip) to reach the chapel.
Chapel to San Pedro de Atacama
From the chapel, I headed straight back to San Pedro de Atacama (though I did take a quick break at the entrance station to drink some water and adjust my backpack). From the chapel, it’s about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) back to the bike rental shop. You just have to retrace your bike path.
My biggest piece of advice here is to watch for cars. You’ll likely be heading back around lunch time and there are undoubtedly more vehicles out and about now than there were when you left San Pedro de Atacama this morning.
Return your bike and get some lunch. You’ve earned it.
How Long Does It Take to Bike Devil’s Throat?
In total, this entire adventure took be about four hours. I paid for the bike for six hours, but by the time I exited the park, I was hungry and my butt was starting to feel a bit sore. I headed back to San Pedro de Atacama, returned my bike, and got a delicious lunch.
In total, my watch logged just under 16 miles (25.7 kilometers) of biking for the day. In general, it was pretty flat, but there are a few places where you may notice some hills and may have to work just a little bit harder.
More Biking in San Pedro de Atacama
Devil’s Throat is not the only area you can bike. There’s also the nearby Death Valley (Valle de Muerte). The popular Moon Valley (Valle de Luna) can also be visited by bike, but that is a longer bike ride.
Remember that San Pedro de Atacama sits at nearly 8,000 feet above sea level (2,400 meters), so biking may be a bit more difficult than you are expecting. Plus there’s very little shade so in the afternoon it gets very hot as the sun beats down on you.
Do You Need to Take a Tour to Devil’s Throat?
While many activities in San Pedro de Atacama are just easier with a tour, this is one activity that I think is really easy to do on your own. All you have to do is visit a bike rental shop, pick up your bike, and start pedaling. For me, it was very nice to explore on my own after two full days of guided tours.
That said, if you feel more comfortable with a guided tour, visit some of the bike shops in town. Not only will the rent bikes, but some will also offer guided biking day tours.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed my time in San Pedro de Atacama. The tours are great, but it felt so good to get out and explore on my own. Devil’s Throat is very easy to do and I’d recommend it for anyone looking for a little something different (though plenty of other tourists make the journey their themselves too).
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