← A Pampa Traviesa Marathon·Day trip

Parque Luro: A Day Among the Red Deer

A provincial reserve 35 km from Santa Rosa where the red deer rut in March and April, reached on flat ground with almost no walking required.

DurationDay trip
TransitRoad via RN35, about 35 to 36 km from Santa Rosa (car, taxi, remís or bus)
DepartsSanta Rosa

After the A Pampa Traviesa Marathon: Parque Luro

The Route: Santa Rosa → Parque Luro → Santa Rosa Logistics: Road transport along RN35, about 35 to 36 km each way. The route is a straight run out of the city and back again. Marathon Month: April Duration: Day trip

Santa Rosa ──(35-36 km, RN35, car / remís / bus)──> Parque Luro
     ▲                                                     │
     └──────────────────(same road back)──────────────────┘

A Pampa Traviesa is run in April, usually on a Sunday, and the finish leaves most runners with a Monday to fill and legs that dislike stairs. Parque Luro is the easiest answer in the province. It sits about 35 to 36 km from Santa Rosa along RN35, and the whole visit can be done with a few hundred metres of walking.

April in Parque Luro: March and April are the rutting season for the red deer, known locally as the brama. Stags roar to hold their hinds, mostly around dawn and dusk. A visit at midday in April lands inside the season but is not a guarantee of sightings, and the animals keep their distance from people on foot. Conditions vary from year to year, so ask the reserve how the season is going before you commit to a particular day.

National tourism lists car, bus, taxi and remís as ways to reach the park. No current bus timetable is published in a form worth quoting. The straightforward arrangement is a remís booked through your hotel for the round trip, with a pick-up time agreed in advance, because a stranded runner on a quiet provincial road is a poor ending to a marathon trip. If you hire a car, the drive is a single road with no junctions to puzzle over.

The Reserve

Parque Luro is a provincial reserve on the flat pampas, and the paths around the old estate buildings are level. It began as the private estate of Pedro Luro, whose family introduced European deer and boar for hunting, and the mansion and grounds were later opened to the public. Plan for a slow loop of the grounds and the museum rooms of an hour or two, with plenty of benches and no climbing.

Reserve any guided brama outing ahead of time, and treat standing in a field at dusk as a cost of its own. After a marathon, the legs do not like long stationary periods. Take a chair or ask whether the guided outing includes seating. Entry fees and guided-viewing times change, so check them with the reserve before you set out.

Bring water, food and a windproof top. April mornings on the pampas can be cool and the wind arrives without warning. Services in the reserve may be limited, and it is wise to eat before you go or carry something with you.

Getting Back

Allow time for the drive back to Santa Rosa in daylight. If you have booked a remís, confirm the return pick-up time with the driver before you leave the car. If you are catching an evening flight from Santa Rosa airport (RSA), which lies 4.5 km from the city centre on RN35, leave the reserve at least two hours before your check-in closes and allow for slow traffic on the road back to town.