Return to El Chaltén—Patagonia’s premier hiking destination
March 18, 2026
For 14 years, ever since we visited El Chaltén the first time, we’ve been wanting to return. Bordered by sheer granitic towers, the biggest attraction for us is that you can walk onto the trails leading to these towers directly from town, with no additional transportation needed.
It was in 2012, when we first went to El Chaltén, that I started this blog. This post is long, but it’s mostly photos of the area’s most popular hikes, which we completed during our five-day stay there this month. I also refer to my previous posts, to avoid repetition and for comparisons. All photos are my own unaltered images.
This Google Earth image shows our connection between Chilean Patagonia and Argentinian Patagonia. From Puerto Natales, located southeast of Parque Nacional Torres del Paine (in green letters at south end of map), we took a bus across the border. My last post shows the exact location of Puerto Natales: https://landscapes-revealed.net/puerto-natales-gateway-to-torres-del-paine/.
The yellow line on the map marks the border between Chile and Argentina—for some reason red shapes surround the yellow border line in the mountains. The bus went to El Calafate on the south shore of Lago Argentino. From there, we hired a driver to take us to El Chaltén, located north of Lago Viedma. With a driver, we could make stops along the way to take photos.I took this photo along the eastern shore of Lago Argentino looking west to the mountains in Glacier National Park. The incredible turquoise color of this glacier-fed lake is due to fine sediment called glacial flour that is created when glaciers grind rocks into tiny particles. When sunlight hits the water, the water absorbs longer wavelengths—reds and yellows—and the glacial flour absorbs shorter wavelengths—purples. What is left of the visible light spectrum is the blue and green colors that are scattered off the particles to our eyes.As we neared El Chaltén, we got our first views of the granitic towers (light-colored rock), looking out from among their sedimentary surroundings (dark-colored rock). The most prominent tower in the range is Cerro Fitzroy, whose summit is ensconced in clouds.
Geology of the Fitzroy range
The mountains west of El Chaltén are part of Argentina’s Glacier National Park (Parque Nacional Los Glaciares). The park encompasses the Argentinian slope of the Andes where glaciers empty into Lagos Argentino and Viedma. Eighteen thousand years ago, at the peak of the last glaciation, the glaciers extended to the eastern sides of the two lakes, which were carved out by the glacial ice. If you look closely at the Google Earth map above, you may see old shorelines around the lakes that formed when the lakes were much larger—when the glacial ice was melting.
The bedrock geology is similar to that in Torres del Paine—see my post about this park: https://landscapes-revealed.net/chiles-iconic-torres-del-paine-national-park/. As in Torres del Paine, deep-marine sediments formed in a rifting basin only to be followed by compression and uplift. Long afterward, granitic bodies intruded into the sediments and all of the sequence was further uplifted.
Glacial action during the past few million years has eroded the rocks and created the spectacular sawtooth ridges and steep towers. Because the granite is more resistant to erosion, these rocks tower over the sedimentary rocks that erode away more easily.
This northwestward view over El Chaltén, with Cerro Fitzroy in the distance, was taken on a hike back to town from Mirador Águilas (shown on satellite image below). This photo shows one difference in the geology of Torres del Paine and El Chaltén. The rocks on the cliffs adjacent to town are older than the dark-colored sedimentary rocks higher up on the slope. These rocks are air- and ash-flow tuffs from volcanoes associated with an earlier period of oceanic subduction. They are mostly silica-rich rocks exploded from stratovolcanoes. These older rocks are not visible at Torres del Paine, but the darker-colored marine sedimentary rocks and the granite that intruded into them are very similar in both places.
When we were in El Chaltén 14 years ago, our visit just happened to correspond with a graduate student (Matt) who was working with the same advisor I had while at Stanford. We were interested in Matt’s sedimentary field work, so we spent a day in the field with him and his friend Corey. To see photos of our day together and learn a little more about his work, see my blog post from 2012: https://landscapes-revealed.net/whispers-of-rock/.
Top trails for hiking
Please refer to the satellite image of the area (below) when looking at the photos and descriptions of our hikes. The peaks, especially Cerros (“hills”) Torre and Fitzroy are popular climbing destinations, although they require a great deal of skill. Link to my 2012 post to learn more about the reasons for the climbing challenges and also more about the geology: https://landscapes-revealed.net/scream-of-stone/. Hike distances and elevation changes are estimates that depend on the specific route chosen.
This satellite image (from Apple maps) is in two parts. The western part was obviously taken in a more snowy winter month, whereas the eastern part was taken in a less snowy month. Aguilas=Mirador Águilas, a viewpoint we hiked to that is higher up the slope than Mirador Cóndores, where we did indeed see the magnificent condor birds flying. Pliegue=the summit of the Loma del Plague Tumbado trail. Laguna Torre=the lake that is ponded behind a moraine created by Glacier Torre, which is shrinking. Cerro Torre=the second highest peak in the range. Monte Fitzroy, usually called Cerro Fitzroy, is the highest peak in the range. Laguna de los Tres is the middle lake east of “Monte” Fitzroy.
Mirador Águilas (Eagles Viewpoint)
This is a good initiation hike. It starts from the Visitor Center. The small blue circle labeled “Aguilas” on the satellite image above indicates the summit of the hike, which is only 6 km (3.5 miles) roundtrip, with an elevation gain of 215 m (710 feet). We were staying in the other side of town from the Visitors Center, which nearly doubled the distance.
Even this short hike had a great payoff. As it often is, Cerro Fitzroy’s summit was shrouded in clouds. At 3,405 m (11,171 feet), Fitzroy is the tallest peak in the range. The rocks right behind Jay and me are the older volcanic part of the geologic sequence. They are overlain by the dark-colored marine sedimentary rocks into which the granite (towers) intruded.
Loma del Pliegue Tombado (Slope of the Fold)
This hike is much more serious—it is 19.5 km (11.8 miles) round trip, with an elevation gain of 1130 m (3715 feet). Like the hike to Mirador Águiles, it leaves from the Visitor Center. It was cloudy on the day we did this hike and we were unlikely to see the peaks, so we didn’t go all the way to the top. But in 2012 we were fortunate to have a perfect day and we did go to the top (the summit is labeled “Pliegue” on the satellite image above). I’m reposting the photo I took that day, since it is one of my favorite photos.
Loma del Pleigue means “slope of the fold”. The fold can’t be seen from the summit because the fold is on the slope beneath the summit. The fold is readily visible along the trail to Laguna del Torre. Please link to my 2012 post to see photos of this fold and another fold that can be viewed along the road leading into El Chaltén: https://landscapes-revealed.net/whispers-of-rock/.
This perspective (photo taken in 2012) from the summit of Loma del Pliegue Tombado trail is my favorite because it provides an expansive view of both iconic peaks. Cerro Torre is the tower on the left side of the photo. At 3,128 m (10,262 feet) elevation, it is 300 m lower than Cerro Fitzroy—the tower on the right side of the photo. Although lower in elevation, Cerro Torre is more difficult to climb because it is closer to the ice field and has more changeable weather. The lake is Laguna Torre, which is formed by the terminal moraine of Glacier Torre (see satellite image above). The next trail description includes a close-up view of the lagoon.
Laguna Torre
We started this hike from the north side of town near our lodging. Although long at 19 km (11.4 miles) round trip, this is a relatively easy hike because the elevation gain of 550 m (1800 feet) is spread out over undulating terrain rather than in a continuous ascent. Look at the satellite image above to see our route up the valley from El Chaltén to the moraine that contains the lagoon. In the next photo, we are standing on that moraine.
Here is our group standing on the moraine of Laguna Torre. I included this wide shot so you can see the moraine and compare it to the photo above that was taken from the summit of the Loma del Pliegue trail. The lake gets its name from Cerro Torre and Glacier Torre in the background.Left-side photo: I took this photo of Cerro Torre as we were hiking along the trail toward the laguna. We kept looking for climbers scaling the wall but were unable to see anyone. Right-side photo: Jay is standing on the moraine that holds the laguna. The gravel that was dumped by the glacier ranges from minute pieces to huge boulders. This range of sizes is a hallmark of deposition from ice, which is very viscous and so can carry just about any rock size.This photo is of Anita and Ralf heading back down the trail from Laguna Torre. On the trail we passed several other moraines that were older positions of Glacier Torre. The most prominent is the one without vegetation—so it is relatively young. Several more cross the valley in the distance. They are vegetation covered, so are older. All were probably formed during the past 18,000 years as glaciers were melting and receding up the valley since the last glacial maximum.Along the trail we passed this sign warning of GLOFs—glacial lake outwash floods. Outwash floods are common in glacial areas. Factors in this case are glacial ice calving into the lake, snow avalanches or soil flowing into the lake, all of which could cause the water to overflow the moraine and send a flood down the valley. An earthquake is another factor that could destabilize the moraine and cause it to fail. We did not feel threatened on the beautiful summer day when we were hiking.
Laguna de los Tres (Laguna of the Three)
This is the “crème de la crème” of El Chaltén hikes and it is not easy. Nevertheless, it is very popular because it gets so close to the imposing wall of Cerro Fitzroy. Jay and I were astonished by the number of people on the trail compared to when we hiked it in 2012, when we were nearly alone. As with the Laguna Torre hike, we were fortunate to have another sunny, cloud-free day.
The trail is about 25 km (15 miles) round trip with an elevation gain of 770 m (2525 feet). The greatest difficulty is the last 2 km, which is very steep and rocky. Descending is nearly as difficult as the ascent. But the view at the top is worth the effort. See the satellite image above for location of Laguna de los Tres. The “bump” at the eastern end of the laguna is the steep hill that must be climbed.
It was a gorgeous day to hike to Laguna de Los Tres, with Cerro Fitzroy and surrounding peaks in full view. When we did this hike in 2012, the view was not so clear. It is interesting to compare this photo to my photo in 2012—there is certainly less ice now than 14 years ago. See for yourself: https://landscapes-revealed.net/a-mecca-for-climbers-and-anyone-who-loves-mountains/.Here is a view of Laguna de las Tres from a little farther away. Features to look for: the moraine (lower right) with sediments dumped by the glacier as it retreated; the empty valley (lower left) since the glacier retreated; the dark-colored sedimentary rocks around the towers that formed in a deep ocean basin. Millions of years later, the granite intruded, everything was compressed and uplifted, and then glaciers eroded the rocks into this remarkable landscape.This is the view we had when descending from Laguna de los Tres. Ralf is on the upper steep, rocky part of the trail. Note group of people descending on the right side of the photo. The lake in the valley is Laguna Madre. It was carved by glaciers when they flowed farther out into the valley.We were amazed to see several paragliders flying at the heights of the condors as we descended from Laguna de los Tres. On the way up, we saw a paraglider flying in front of the granite towers. Given the strong winds and changing conditions, paragliding here would take great skill. This day was probably as good as it gets.On the trail we got close views of the crested caracara, a bird of prey in the falcon family. The adult (on the left) appeared to be the parent of the juvenile on the right.This is a view of Rio de las Vueltas on the return from Laguna de los Tres, as we neared El Chaltén. The glacial flour in this river gives the water a lovely shade of blue. In this view to the east, only the old volcanic rocks and the slightly younger overlying sedimentary rocks are visible. One must look west to see the high granite peaks.
Final note
We noticed large changes in El Chaltén between 2012 and 2026. The funky little climbing town now has grown to accommodate many more people, including tour groups that we did see before. The trails have many more people than they did in 2012. Still, it is a highly worthy destination and, as always, you lose many people behind when hiking. The restaurants and craft beer establishments are awesome—that much is unchanged since 2012.
Mike and I were there in the same year as you and I loved the feeling of having g most of the trails to ourselves. I will never forget ascending to Fitzroy to be greeted by a sudden blizzard that went away as quickly as it came. And I loved the funky little town! Glad we went when we did.
Mike and I were there in the same year as you and I loved the feeling of having g most of the trails to ourselves. I will never forget ascending to Fitzroy to be greeted by a sudden blizzard that went away as quickly as it came. And I loved the funky little town! Glad we went when we did.
Maybe we saw each other there in 2012, but of course we didn’t know each other then! Glad we all got to experience the more laid-by experience then.
amazing photos Karen- thanks for sharing your journeys
Thanks for reading Bob!
Incredible photos, as always – and scenery unlike any I’ve seen before.
Thanks for my “armchair tour”!
Gloria Mooney
Thanks for reading Gloria! See you back in Ashland soon.
Fabulous photos! So happy for you and Jay!!
It has been a trip with much natural beauty. We’ll catch up soon!
Wonderful adventures for you and Jay! Thank you for sharing your photos and knowledge with us!
Thanks for reading Barb. Hope all’s well with you.