The Patagonia region of South America is on the bucket list of many travelers and late this summer, my buddy Randy Commons and I were lucky enough to spend seven days exploring Argentina and Patagonia on motorcycles. We spent the first two days riding in Mendoza, Argentina, which is a little north of Patagonia. After a long day of driving south, we spent the next four days riding in Patagonia.
Words and Photography by Simon Cudby
It takes about 24 hours to travel from the U.S. to Mendoza, Argentina. We met up with local hosts Patricio and Pablo Marelli, who are very experienced off-road riders who own a motorcycle dealership and a motorcycle graphics company. They often ride with Kevin and Luciano Benavides, well-known Argentine Rally racers (Kevin won the 2021 and 2023 Dakar Rally and Luciano won the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship).
I met Patricio, who goes by “Pato,” when he sent me an email a couple of years ago inviting us to come ride in his home country. He said that he and the Benavides brothers wanted to show us the amazing riding in the region.
The Marelli brothers started a small motorcycle tour company called Big Trail Argentina (ARG) that shows off some of the best motorcycle riding areas in Argentina and Patagonia. The business is pretty informal at this stage, but you won’t find better hosts.
Randy and I finally reached Mendoza, Argentina—nestled near the Andes Mountains—after a long flight. Those who appreciate a good glass of Malbec may be familiar with Mendoza, the center of Argentina’s wine region. Many argue that the red wine from Mendoza ranks among the finest in the world. However, our primary reason for coming here was not the wine. There are many other reasons to visit this part of the world, too. A key attraction in the area is Aconcagua Provincial Park, home to Aconcagua, South America’s tallest peak, which attracts climbers and trekkers from around the world. But it was the off-road trails and roads that brought Randy and me here.
Pato arranged GasGas motorcycles from GasGas Palmares for us to ride. For the next two days, we covered a variety of terrain with some spectacular scenery over simple to semi-challenging trails.We changed gears on the third day. We drove 14 hours in a van to Patagonia. San Martin de los Andes was our ultimate destination. San Martin de los Andes is a beautiful mountain town that could easily be in a Norwegian fjord with its stunning scenery in every direction. This was very different compared to the more desert-like Mendoza region.
We also traded in our lightweight GasGas bikes for a pair of BigTrail’s KTM 790 Adventure bikes since much of our riding for the next few days would be fast mountain fireroad-type riding, and we’d be covering a lot of miles.
A highlight of our trip came on day six. We rode on a fast one-way fireroad, the Tronador Trail, through an expansive forest, past the beautiful Playa Negra black sand beach, and onto the base of Cerro Tronador and the Ventisquero Negro black glacier, with its spectacular turquoise lake water below. You can occasionally hear sounds from the glacier as snow and ice sheared off the edge of the peak.
We capped off our ride with a 40-mile scenic road ride along the famous Ruta 40 Highway that took us to lunch in Paso Leon, located near the Argentina and Chile border. From there, it was time to head back and begin our long journey home.
You can learn more and find contact information on Big TrailARG’s Instagram page. There are several other motorcycle tour companies in the region, but I recommend giving Pato and the guys at Big Trail Argentina a call first. CN
Click here to read the Mendoza and Patagonia 2024 Adventures Story in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
