Start / Useful information / About El Chaltén
About El Chaltén
In the heart of the Southern Patagonian Andes -at the foot of the mitic Fitz Roy Mountain- lies El Chaltén, a small turistic town founded on the extreme North of Los Glaciares National Park. Behind the colossal granite walls dominating the view -as you can see on the photo above- there is the famous “Campo de Hielo Patagonico Sur’, the most important continental ice mass of our planet after Antartica. Glaciers descend from these eternal Ice Fields, feeding the great lakes of this area. One of them is the famous Perito Moreno Glacier in the extreme South of Los Glaciares National Park. To get to this paradise of pure nature, first you arrive to the nearest town of El Calafate; by plane or by bus. From there, you go 215 km across the patagonian steppes on the recently paved roads along the shores of Lago Argentino and Lago Viedma.
Trekking Capital of Argentina
The region offers privileged sceneries for múltiple alternatives on outdoor activities and mountineering. In the area it is possibble to do dozens of treks: from small walks reaching lookout pionts with a minimum grade of difficulty to expeditions of many days or even the climbs of great, vertical walls; best reserved for experienced climbers. The most popular activities in the area are: trekking, climbing, camping, horseriding, going on excursions, photography, climbing courses, birdwatching, fishing, and visiting legendary “estancias” in Santa Cruz. For all these, El Chaltén has been proclaimed Trekking Capital of Argentina. Around this small town, there are many places of great, natural beauty you can visit. One to mentioned is Lago del Desierto at only 37km from the locality; that in contradiction to its name it is an unspoilt paradise of centenary woodlands, glaciers and cascades. At the same time, it is possible to go fishing, camping or trekking among other activities.
Visitor Services
The principal socioeconomic activity in El Chaltén is based on tourism -with high level of private investments- it offers many varied servicies and products that are in continuous growth. There are many options for accommodation, being hostels and cabins the most popular ones. To eat, you can choose from many restaurants, pizza places or bars. You should remember that because of the isolated geography of El Chaltén, it still has not got certain services such as mobile phones and cash machines.
© 1999-2008 losglaciares.com publishers. All rights reserved.
No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
Last update: 2007/02/02
