I'd never heard of this WHS until looking at the list just before entering Argentina. It wouldn't have made my itinerary either if not for Michael Novins' detailed review on how to get to Talampaya by public transport. Suddenly it seemed like a very doable stop between Mendoza and Jujuy and we are glad we made the effort. 

From Mendoza we took a bus to the tiny town of Patquia, planning to catch the Facundo bus on its way from La Rioja and saving us an hour of sleep and backtracking. What we got for our troubles was standing room on a very crowded and hot bus. It was running late but we easily had enough time for a tour before catching the return bus at 4pm (also running late). 

Entry fee and tour fees were a little high considering that this is not a popular or busy site with foreign or even domestic tourists as far as we could tell. We were easily able to pick whatever tour we wanted. There were options for short walking tours and driving ones. At 40 degrees we weren't going to walk any more than necessary. We ended up in a van. It seemed to be the most common option and the one that worked best with our timing. There is no choice but the set 4 stops or a slightly longer tour with a 5th stop in another narrower canyon. The 5th stop was actually quite nice and the group walks about 500 meters inside the canyon. Squawking parrots flying through overhead was a nice effect. 

As for the rest of the standard tour, it felt like it went by quickly and you need to really love rock formations and hard to see petroglyphs to get much out of it. It reminded me of childhood road trips in the national parks of the southwest USA and I enjoyed the nostalgia. There isn't much mention of dinosaurs but I guess that is more on the Ischigualasto side which is still not accessible by bus as far as I could tell. 

We easily made it back to La Rioja in time to catch the latest overnight onward buses so it is possible if you want to minimize time in the area. Unfortunately they were all sold out and we got stuck in town for the night anyway. It felt like our most off the beaten path part of Argentina.