How to drive on Ruta 40?

Ruta 40 is one of the most iconic Argentinian highways stretching across Argentinian Patagonia consisting of paved and unpaved sections. Between Bariloche and El Calafate the unpaved section is around 70km long at the time of writing ( 2017 Dec ) the rest of the road is paved. The unpaved section is located between Gobernador Gregores where the 29 crosses into Ruta 40 until almost Tres Lagos.

Even the paved sections can have very bad areas riddled with potholes. Most of these sections are marked by traffic signs. Watch out for skid marks though those will indicate where the potholes are. There are weird things on the road which I call the “negative speed bumps”. It is like a regular speed bump the other way around. That is a hole in the road rather than a bump and it is like a U shape. Regular speed bumps are also frequent in cities and urban areas and they are not very well signed out. They morph into the road as most of them have no indicative coloring which I find very dangerous. If you drive in the Bariloche area watch out for these nasty camouflaged speed bumps. I collected a few tips for you, future Ruta 40 explorer.

General Overview

• Gas stations are only available in or very near cities, no service stations or resting areas on the open road.
• You best fill up at every gas station you pass by, because there might be no gas available at the next gas station.
• Restrooms are only available in cities. Having a wee wee by the side of the road is problematic due to the winds.
• Mobile phone coverage is near and around the cities only. Perito Moreno has 4G available with Claro, Gobernador Gregores only GPRS, El Calafate full on 4G.
• Credit cards are generally accepted on Gas stations except the one after Tres Lagos, that one is cash only so is the one at Bajo Caracoles.
• Don’t rely on google maps as its offline navigation is often incorrect. Newer roads are not on google maps yet and the time estimation is based on old data.
• ATMs are available in El Bolson, Rio Mayo, Perito Moreno and Gobernador Gregores. I used the one in El Bolson by Banco Patagonia.
• Police controls are usually around the police stations and at the very beginning or end of a town. They will pull you over for no reason just to check your passport, drivers license and the papers of the car. I got pulled over once, but as soon as they checked my passport, driver’s license and they figured out that I am driving a rental car they did let me go on my way straight away. The good news is that I didn’t see any permanent speed cameras while I was there. No mobile speed cams either.

Driving on the paved section

 

• In Patagonia high winds are way of life. Keep to the middle of the road even if you reach across to the left lane. This way you will have much more room for error. Besides there is barely any traffic on Ruta 40 and you will see if someone coming from far away.
• Watch out for potholes, sometimes there are warning signs, sometime there aren’t any, if you see skid marks in front of you, start braking.
• Speed-wise you are even allowed to do 110km/hr in Santa Cruz province from Rio Mayo. I generally drive fast and on the good quality sections I try to make up for lost time. I wouldn’t encourage speeding though I am just  stating that the quality of the road will allow you to do this.
• Watch out for animals, Rabbits, Guanacos, Sheep, Armadillos among the ones living right next to the road. I unfortunately hit a bird that flew straight under my car, I had no chance to save his little life 🙁

Driving on the unpaved section

• Speed-wise I found it much more comfortable to drive around 70Km/hr than driving 40 or 50. The reason being is that the car will shake much less on higher speeds.
• Always try to keep your wheels in the tracks. There are usually tire tracks for the left and for the right sides. If there are no tracks for your side don’t be shy to go across the other side as I said there is barely any traffic on Ruta 40.
• Watch out for surface changes, if you see more gravel on the road slow down otherwise you will start sliding and feeling like you are driving a boat.
• Use cruise control if available in your car. Sudden breaks and speed ups are your enemy as both can destabilize your car.