The Atacama Desert is one of the most spectacularly beautiful places in South America, with snow capped volcanoes, colorful rock formations, and technicolor salt pools. Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache, outside of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, are some of the most popular salt pools in the Atacama Desert—and for good reason! Some of the pools here are otherworldly shades of turquoise, with jaw-dropping views of the surrounding Atacama Desert, plus, you can even swim in some of the lagoons!
If you want to experience these unique natural features for yourself, here’s everything you need to know about visiting Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache, some of the most gorgeous natural pools in Chile.
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What are the Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache?
There are a total of seven salt lagoons at Lagunas Escondidas (i.e., the Hidden Lagoons), each of which are beautiful hues of blue, ranging from brilliant turquoise to deep azure colors. There are walking paths to enjoy different perspectives of the pools with the Andes Mountains in the background.
The water here is extremely salty—it’s believed that it actually has a higher salinity than the Dead Sea. Accordingly, the pools are ringed with a salt crust, making the color of the water seem that much brighter.
During certain parts of the year, you’re actually allowed to swim in one of the salt lagoons here (more on this below!). Due to the salinity of the water, you’re incredibly buoyant, effortlessly floating at the top of the water.
Before visiting Lagunas Escondidas, my husband, Justin, and I had never experienced floating in a salt pool before. It’s SUCH an unreal experience—it kind of feels like you’re Superman!
Where are Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache located?
Lagunas Escondidas is one of the most popular things to do in San Pedro de Atacama, located here, about 50 minutes southwest of town.
How to get to Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache
If you have a rental car, you can theoretically drive to Lagunas Escondidas, heading west on the well-maintained Route 23 and then turning south on B-241.
The B-241 road, which you have to drive on for 45 km to reach the salt lagoons, is ROUGH, with serious potholes, washboarding, and jagged rocks, especially along the last 30 km or so. On our way back from the lagoons, we passed THREE different cars that had gotten flat tires here, including one lady who looked like she absolutely destroyed the wheel well on her rental car, AND counted a whopping 74 shredded tires that were just discarded on the side of the road.
Getting a flat here would be decidedly unfun—and, if you run into any issues with changing your tire, car trouble here could legitimately turn dangerous. There’s no cell service in this area and the weather here can be extreme, with scorching heat during the day and freezing temperatures at night.
Accordingly, I’d strongly recommend packing along extra water, snacks, and warm layers of clothing if you decide to drive here yourself, as well as confirming whether you have all the equipment (and know-how) to change your tire, if you need to.
If you don’t want to fart around worrying about water rations in your rental car, you can alternatively let someone else take the wheel (quite literally!) and just take a tour here from San Pedro de Atacama, like this option or this option.
When is Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache open?
The pools are technically open every day from 9:30 AM to 6 PM. However, they do not allow visitors to enter after 5 PM, so be sure to get here with plenty of time to spare!
How much does Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache cost?
Generally, admission costs 12,000 CLP (or around $12.75 USD) per person.
One of the pools here is typically opened for visitors to swim in. However, it is occasionally closed to allow restoration of the pool’s pH and its microbiome—for example, it was closed from October 2024 to February 2025, reportedly due to visitors getting into the lagoon without washing off sunscreen and other lotions that negatively impact the environment.
During these timeframes, they usually reduce admission to 10,000 CLP ($10.60 USD). You can check whether swimming is currently allowed by reading recent Google reviews.
I’ve read reports that credit cards are accepted here, but when we visited, we were told that admission was cash only. I’d recommend bringing along enough Chilean pesos, just in case!
What to expect when visiting Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache
When you arrive at Lagunas Escondidas, you’ll need to park near the office, where you can pay your admission and an attendant will share information about where to park, walk, and swim on the property.
Near the ticket office, there are bathrooms; changing rooms to put on your swimsuit, and showers, if you need to rinse off any sunscreen or other lotions before getting into the lagoon. The attendant will need to turn the shower on for you and be prepared—the water is FREEZING!
From here, you’ll drive to the first parking lot, where you can get out and walk on a pathway around several of the lagoons.
The most stunning of the pools, with electrical blue waters and a salt-encrusted shoreline, is located here. Up until a few years ago, you could actually swim in it, but, given the increased tourism to the Atacama Desert, visitors are now only allowed into the largest of the lagoons.
There’s also a handful of other salt lagoons along this pathway, although, to be honest, these pools are quite small and appear to be drying up.
After you walk around these lagoons, you are then supposed to repark in this lot, where you can walk along the path past a few of the other pools and, most importantly, get in to swim at the biggest one.
The ground around the pool and its floor are encrusted with salt granules and are rather stabby, so I’d recommend bringing hiking sandals (Justin and I have a cult-like love for our Tevas—here’s his pair and here’s mine) to wear into the pool.
You’re only supposed to swim in the lagoon for a maximum of 20 minutes, as the high salinity of the water can cause dehydration, skin irritation, and even tissue damage. But I don’t think that’s going to be too much of a problem anyway—the water is quite chilly!
Despite the frostiness, Justin and I had so much fun, effortlessly floating in the water and taking in the stunning views of the desert and the surrounding Andes Mountains.
Don’t forget your towel—even with one, our bodies looked WILD after getting out of the lagoon, with salt streaked across our limbs. Thankfully, there’s that very cold shower waiting for you to wash it all off before you head back to San Pedro!
Fresh water has to be delivered to Lagunas Escondidas and accordingly, you’re only allowed to shower for 30 seconds before it’s automatically turned off by the attendant. Accordingly, it’s not a terrible idea to bring an extra towel to lay across your car seat in case you’re not able to wash off all the salt in the shower—that stuff can be HARD to get out of cloth upholstery!
In total, I’d plan to spend about an hour to an hour and a half at Lagunas Escondidas.
Tips for visiting Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache
Come later in the afternoon
Conventional travel wisdom is that you should show up early at a destination to avoid the crowds.
However, most tour groups from San Pedro de Atacama actually come here around 10 AM or so. Accordingly, I’d either suggest getting here as soon as the pools open and heading straight to the second parking lot so you have the best chance of getting the swimming lagoon to yourself, OR waiting to arrive until the tour groups have left for the day, after 1 PM or so.
Drones are not allowed
To be honest, part of the reason that I wanted to come here is that I saw some REALLY cool looking aerial shots of people floating in the turquoise waters and wanted to get some similarly awesome videos with our drone for ourselves.
However, it turns out that, given that Lagunas Escondidas is a protected area, you’re actually not allowed to fly drones here any longer. So leave the drone at home!
Download offline maps on Google Maps
There’s no cell service here, so download offline maps before you hit the road so you can navigate back to San Pedro from the lagoons.
Stop by the Magic Bus
Along B-241, you can make a short detour to the Magic Bus, a rusted out shell of a bus that’s been abandoned in the Atacama Desert. The derelict bus is now covered in graffiti and looks very Mad Max, making for a very cool juxtaposition with the barren desert landscape.
There’s not much to do here, other than take photos, but, if you’re a photography or social media enthusiast, it’s definitely worth the drive.
Consider visiting Laguna Cejar instead
There’s actually another salt lagoon that’s closer to San Pedro de Atacama, called Laguna Cejar.
To be honest, I think visiting Lagunas Escondidas is overall a better experience. The pools are a prettier color, it’s WAY less crowded, and it’s a bit less expensive (Laguna Cejar is 15,000 CLP per person).
Still, Laguna Cejar is less than a half hour drive from San Pedro and doesn’t require you to drive down the scary road that will murder your tires. Plus, there are tours to Laguna Cejar, like this option, that actually depart in the afternoon, which are hard to come by in San Pedro.
Enjoy visiting Lagunas Escondidas—it’s one of the most unique natural features of Chile! Do you have any questions about exploring this area of the Atacama Desert? Let us know in the comments below!
