Walk the Borges Labyrinth Mendoza, an open-book maze where nature, symbolism, and wine-country calm meet.
The Borges Labyrinth Mendoza is not just a hedge maze.
It is a walk-inside short story that bends space, time, and expectation.
Here, vines and boxwoods form an eight-thousand-square-metre riddle that invites every step to echo Borges’s love of paradox.
Randoll Coate, diplomat-turned-“labyrinthologist,” drew the maze in the outline of an open book.
Look down from the twenty-two-metre Maria Kodama Tower and hidden glyphs appear:
“BORGES” forward and mirrored
Infinity symbols and question marks
A cane, an hourglass, and the initials MK for Borges’s widow
Over 12 000 boxwood shrubs trace corridors where no single exit exists.
Visitors abandon linear plots and embrace branching possibilities—the very essence of The Garden of Forking Paths.
In 1979, writer Susana Bombal, Borges’s confidante, asked Coate to design a vegetal homage.
Her grandson, Camilo Aldao, revived the dream two decades later at Finca Los Álamos, Borges’s beloved rural retreat.
Mini-timeline
1979 – Coate sketches the maze.
1986 – Borges dies in Geneva.
2003 – 7 150 young boxwoods mature into today’s living monument.*
*Numbers vary by source; Atlas Obscura records over 12 000 shrubs, while early plans list 7 150.
The long gestation proves Borges’s hold on Argentine imaginations. A single idea crossed generations, estates—and finally took root in San Rafael’s desert light.
Location
Calle Bombal s/n, Cuadro Nacional, 12 km south-east of downtown San Rafael.
Hours
Open daily, 10 AM–6 PM.
Tickets
ARS 7 700 adults
ARS 4 900 seniors 70+
ARS 3 900 children 6–12
Infants free
On-site highlights
Maria Kodama Tower for that all-knowing aerial view.
Pulpería and Bistró serving carne a la masa with regional Malbecs.
Kids’ playground, cane maze, lagoon, and shaded picnic lawns.
Tip: arrive early, lose yourself among the hedges, then climb the tower at golden hour. The shift from confusion to clarity feels deliciously Borgesian.
Few gardens ask you to think as hard as you walk.
The Borges Labyrinth Mendoza does both, marrying literary riddles with wine-country charm. By blending symbolic design, family stewardship, and rural hospitality, it turns a pilgrimage into an all-day, all-ages ritual of wonder.
Step in once, and you may leave—yet the paths keep winding in memory.
Ingresa los siguientes datos y comienza a disfrutar de nuestra revista digital.
