Hiking in El Calafate & El Chaltén: the most beautiful tours

The Argentine counterpart to Torres del Paine National Park is called “Los Glaciares National Park”. The park covers an area of over 4,400 km² directly adjacent to the Torres del Paine and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981. After starting our journey in the Chilean south of Patagonia, we continued our journey towards El Calafate & El Chaltén. The two villages are the main starting points for explorations in Los Glaciares National Park.

2 Tage in El Calafate: Perito Moreno & Laguna Nimez

After a seemingly endless drive through the flat steppe landscape of Argentina, Lago Argentino appears in the distance like a kind of mirage. Lago Argentino is the largest lake in Argentina and its bright shade of blue contrasts surreally with the browns and yellows of the pampas. The small town of El Calafate is located on the shores of Lago Argentino, about 70 kilometers from the main attraction of the region, the Perito Moreno Glacier. After Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, I have the feeling of having landed in the middle of a tourist stronghold in El Calafate. Somehow logical, because the small town is thriving thanks to national park visitors and accordingly everything here is geared towards tourists. The positive thing about it is that you can find everything in the numerous shops along the main street – including shoelaces and duct tape (my travel bag showed its first weaknesses after barely three weeks).

Das Highlight | Perito Moreno

Of course, we also want to see the Perito Moreno Glacier and set off towards the glacier tongue the next day. For the 70 kilometer drive to the parking lot at the Perito Moreno Glacier (Estacionamiento Pasarelas Glaciar Perito Moreno) we need just under 1.5 hours. The park entrance fee is 500 Argentine pesos per person. The route is alternatively served by various bus providers, who charge between 300 and 600 Argentine pesos for the ticket. All in all, a hefty sum comes together and so many try their luck with hitchhiking at the entrance to El Calafate. We took two girls from France and New Zealand with our car. From the parking lot there are two options: Either you take one of the free shuttles that chauffeur you directly to the main viewing platforms on the glacier or you do the same and “hike” along the “Beach Trail” for about 30 to 45 minutes until you reach the same viewpoint. We did everything on foot and automatically enjoyed different angles of the glacier.

For Nature Lovers | Laguna Nimez

The second day we use to visit the Laguna Nimez on the outskirts of El Calafate. The entrance fee to the small nature reserve is 200 Argentine pesos per person and the ticket is valid for one week (multiple visits possible). Here, a beautiful circular hike (approx. 1.5 hours) offers insights into the flora and fauna of the Argentine steppe landscape. Unfortunately, the flamingos were too far away for our 90 mm lens that day, but a family of foxes happened to cross our path. For me, it’s a worthwhile detour – and definitely much less touristy than the Perito Moreno Glacier.

El Chaltén: 4 days, 5 hikes

Before we continue our journey to El Chaltén, we top up our pesos at an ATM in El Calafate and fill up our car. Refueling in Argentina is noticeably cheaper than in Chile, but you are not 100% sure whether it is a good or bad deal when withdrawing cash due to the strong depreciation of the Argentine peso. To me, this seems kind of confusing. El Chaltén is much smaller than El Calafate and the range of shops is correspondingly limited. There is an ATM (which we didn’t test, though) as well as a gas station (which was in operation when we visited). In various restaurants as well as in our accommodation, payment by card was basically possible (sometimes from minimum amounts). However, we had prepared ourselves to pay all expenses on site in cash.

El Chaltén is considered the trekking mecca of Argentina and there are numerous great trails waiting to be “hiked” here. It is therefore worthwhile to plan your trip for El Chaltén as much time as for the Torres del Paine National Park. After a rainy arrival, we were very lucky with the weather and were able to do a total of five hikes during three nights on site. Three of them are larger tours and the following two tips describe shorter hikes that can be combined well. I think it’s brilliant that in El Chaltén all hikes start directly in the village. So you can safely leave the car at home and are not dependent on any buses.

#1 Trickle of the Jump

Immediately after our arrival in El Chaltén, we follow the path towards Lago del Desierto for about 10 minutes to see the beautiful waterfall of the Rio Chorrillo. On foot, it takes about an hour from El Chaltén to reach the waterfall.

#2 Los Condores and Las Aguilas Viewpoints

After a short “breather” (the few meters from the parking lot to the waterfall don’t really deserve the name “hiking”), we take advantage of the improvement in the weather in the early evening for a detour to the local mountain of El Chaltén. The clouds still cover the summit highlights called Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, but the panoramic view over El Chaltén is well worth the short climb to the Mirador los Condores. With a small additional loop you reach the Mirador Las Aguilas, from where you can overlook Lago Viedma. We skipped this extra loop due to the setting sun and the rising wind. It is best to allow two hours to visit both Miradores. It took us about an hour to make the detour to the Mirador los Condores (including the way back).

#3 Laguna de los Tres at the foot of Fitz Roy

A tour highlight is the day hike to the Laguna de los Tres in front of the imposing Fitz Roy and his satellites. From El Chaltén, all hikes are designed as long-distance hikes (outward and return routes are on the same trail). If you want to avoid this, it’s best to pack your trekking backpack and combine the tours in the form of a four- to five-day trek. The entrance to the Laguna de los Tres is located at the northern exit of the village on San Martin Street. From there, the trail leads via Laguna Capri and Campamento Poincenot in 10 kilometers and 700 meters in altitude to the Laguna de los Tres. After I have overcome the first meters of altitude on the first three kilometers and see the Fitz Roy in front of me for the first time in glorious sunshine and pleasant temperatures, I follow the narrow path over a plateau. The nasty thing about this hike is that the first nine kilometers are very pleasant to hike and only the last kilometer requires perseverance. After the Campamento Poincenot, the remaining 400 meters of altitude have to be overcome over one kilometer. After a breather with strong gusts of wind at the Laguna, I hike the same way back to El Chaltén. After about eight hours, I reach the starting point and feel the 20 kilometers in my feet – but it was worth it! A really great tour. By the way: I recommend an early start, because you are guaranteed not to be alone and the descent from the Laguna de los Tres back to Campamento is an extremely annoying affair with continuous oncoming traffic (I speak from experience).

#4 Laguna Torre

The trail to Laguna Torre starts approximately in the middle of San Martin Street at the level of the striking brown-painted hotel complex “Los Cerros”. Here, too, a distance of a good 10 kilometers to the Laguna has to be mastered. On the other hand, the difference in altitude is just 200 meters. Thus, this tour is physically easier than the one to the Laguna de los Tres. Analogous to the Laguna de los Tres Trail, a first steeper section follows to the Mirador Cerro Torre (just under 2 kilometers). A persistent wall of clouds successfully denies us the view of Cerro Torre. In otherwise magnificent weather conditions, however, I don’t want to complain too much and instead enjoy the beautifully laid out trail, which leads over hill and dale and through beautiful southern beech forests.

#5 Loma del Pliegue Tumbado

Since the good weather continues, we also use the day of departure for a hike. Finally, we decided to hike the hiking trail to the Mirador Loma de Pliegue Tumbado. This starts at the same place as the trail to the Miradores Los Condores y Las Aguilas at the National Park Administration. The distance to the summit is again around 10 kilometres. Summiteers have to overcome about 1,100 meters in altitude. It is a good 150 meters less in altitude to the Mirador. Our fitness is definitely required here and since we still have a driving distance of 300 kilometers to cover on this day, we start early. In terms of landscape, the trail to Loma del Pliegue Tumbado offers new perspectives on the impressive mountains of the Los Glaciares National Park as well as Lago Viedma and it is much less frequented than the trails to Laguna Torre and Laguna de los Tres.

Practical travel tips for El Calafate & El Chaltén

• We stayed in El Calafate for two nights at the America del Sur Hostel in a double room with private bathroom. The rooms are relatively small, but the hostel convinces with a nice spacious common area and good wifi.
• We were impressed by the nice service at the Buenos Cruces Restaurante. Also recommended is El Rancho (cash only)
• If possible, get money and hiking food (and other purchases) in El Calafate, as the selection in El Chaltén is limited.
• In El Chaltén we spent three nights at Hosteria Kau Si Aike – the only accommodation in Patagonia where we had a kettle in the room. The owner of the hosteria goes out of her way to serve toast, muesli and egg dishes as well as homemade cakes at breakfast. The wifi does not work in all rooms (the closer to the common area, the better) and the reception depends on the weather.
• Numerous restaurants/bars in El Chaltén have a happy hour between 16:00 and 20:00 with reduced prices on the drinks. We stopped at Bourbon for an aperitif and found the pizza in the Cervecería Artesanal Chaltén very tasty (they also have home-brewed beer)
• There is no parking fee to pay for the hikes in El Chaltén (free of charge) and the trails are well signposted (including mileage information for the tours to Laguna de los Tre and Laguna Torre)
• On the website of El Chaltén some of the hikes listed here are described in detail in Spanish
• We also used the Patagonia hiking guide from Bergverlag Rother to plan the hikes