Paddling near San José, Catamarca

San José sits in Catamarca province, in the northwestern Argentine interior, surrounded by a landscape of sierra and valley. The area's paddling centres on a series of diques — reservoirs built across Andean foothills rivers — including Dique Las Pirquitas, Dique La Cañada, Dique Sumampa, and Embalse Collagasta, which provide the flatwater most accessible to local paddlers. The rivers feeding these reservoirs, among them the Río Huacra and Río Balcozna, carry mountain runoff that can suit more adventurous paddling depending on conditions and season.