Atuel River

The Atuel River near El Sosneado

The Atuel River is an approximately 600 km long river in Argentina. It flows through the provinces of Mendoza and La Pampa.

Course

The Atuel rises in the Andes at 3080 m in the same glacial Laguna Atuel. Then he initially flows south-west and forms a broad mountain valley. Southeast of El Sosneado he makes a big arc, which it changes its course in a northeasterly direction. In El Nihuil created by the damming of the river of the 96 sq km reservoir El Nihuil. Immediately afterwards, the river forms a 60 km canyon and the reservoir Valle Grande. In this section of the river falls of 1250 down to 700 meters and thus produces strong rapids. Once it has reached the southern part of San Rafael, his path changes again towards the south. South of Paso de Los Algarrobos he finally empties into the Río Salado del Oeste.