Driving along roads and country lanes surrounding Mar del Plata throughout a landscape of ranges and valleys, green fields or enchanting spots is an appealing outing. It is possible to visit many places during the day or have a barbecue at midday. Other options include staying in a cattle ranch, a cottage in the range, an apart hotel or a camp site just by a lagoon or overlooking a range, visiting a farm, a zoo, an animal breeding place, buying home made jams, exotic meat “escabeche” (marinade of oil, vinegar, herbs and spices to preserve the meat), fruits and vegetables right from the farm.

Ruta 226 is the traditional road to get into the countryside. Located 14 km away from the city, within a Forest Reservation, there is a lagoon called Laguna de los Padres, so named in tribute to the priests that in the 18th Century founded the religious order Nuestra Señora del Pilar. There is a replica of this mission which can be visited at present.

Laguna de los Padres
This lake is surrounded by a group of sporting clubs, some of them of free access to the public, camp sites to stay at or spend the day, with a variety of entertaining activities and sports facilities, as well as areas for sunbathing and having a rest. You can also go sailing and fishing. Bulrushes, cattails, gambarrusa and foxtails are part of the lagoon vegetation. Black neck swans, calanders, thrushes, wood pigeons, partridges, together with coupuses, armadillos and hares make up the varied local fauna. Visitors show up with their reclining chairs and “mate” (typical Argentine beverage) and get ready for a picnic in the open air. Pine trees, eucalyptus, aromos, poplars, cedars and ash trees offer shade and shelter for outdoors lovers.

Museo Municipal José Hernández
This museum is on the other side of the lake, located in the place where the first cattle ranch of the area used to stand. It is a U-shaped building that keeps in its interior several collections related to the rural history of the region. Next to the museum, there is a horse taming field where rural parties are held at different times of the year. There are also numerous crop fields by the road.

Between Ruta 226 and Ruta 88, towards Batán City, there is an important horticultural belt with gentle slopes and valleys. Paraje Santa Paula, Paraje San Francisco, El Coyunco, Colinas Verdes, Los Ortiz are some of the rural settlings and production centers of the area. Batán is a place of quarries as well.

The exploitation of quartzite, also called Mar del Plata stone, has printed the soil in a unique way. The quarry circuit through Estación Chapadmalal, which is another settling of the area, is an attractive tour to go on. In Paraje Las Lomas, there is a zoo worth visiting. Some cattle ranches have opened their gates offering lodging together with an exquisite cuisine and amusing entertainment. You can pay previously arranged visits to animal breeding places and small family micro-entrepreneurships.

Sierra de los Padres

On top of Sierra de los Padres, you can get a stunning view of the range landscape - colorful fields, lanes disappearing into the forests, the lagoon, other group of ranges and the residential neighborhood extending over the rolling landscape well deserve a halt to take a photo.

Sierra de los Padres, at 156m above sea level, is also a residential neighborhood with chalets built in Mar del Plata style, with wooden details, swimming pools and balconies scattered all around the lush landscape. Some of these chalets, strategically located, seem to “hang” from the rocks. Surrounded by trees, with birds singing and pure air, the peace and quite of this place seem to invade the spirit. There is a golf course, a zoo, some companies specialized in adventure tourism that offer trekking in certain circuits, rock climbing and mountain bike, among other leisure activities.

If you wish to go deeper into the ranges, Difuntos, La Peregrina, La Copelina, Valdez are waiting for you; and there are even more dishes to taste and activities to be entertained with in cropped farms and cattle ranches.