Parque Nacional Los Glaciares: El Calafate Travel Guide

Where the ice meets the walkways

The road from El Calafate ends at a wall of ice. Perito Moreno’s front rises roughly 60–70 metres above Lago Argentino and runs about 5 km across. A network of steel walkways, the pasarelas, zigzags down the Península de Magallanes so you face the glacier front from a few hundred metres away.

Stay still for a while and you will hear cracks and booms from inside the glacier. Chunks of ice drop off into the water at intervals nobody can predict. Most visitors spend 2–3 hours on the walkways. The colour-coded circuits differ in length and stair count, and the lower ones put you closest to the ice.

The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and covers part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Its land runs from ice to lenga beech forest to bare granite peaks.

Two sectors, two bases

The park splits into two separate areas, and you can’t drive between them inside it.

• Southern sector (El Calafate): Perito Moreno, plus boat trips on Lago Argentino to the Upsala and Spegazzini glaciers.
• Northern sector (El Chaltén): around 3 hours’ drive north. You hike there instead of watching from a platform: the trail to Laguna de los Tres under Monte Fitz Roy and the walk to Laguna Torre beneath Cerro Torre.

Guided ice treks on Perito Moreno’s surface, with crampons supplied, run from El Calafate through licensed operators. Book them ahead in summer.

Timing the glacier day

Summer runs from November to March. It brings the longest days and most boat departures, but also the most people. Winter is colder and quieter, and the glacier stays just as visible from the walkways.

Wind is the constant here. It comes off the ice and gets through anything that isn’t windproof. Pack:

• a windproof shell and gloves, even in January
• sunglasses, because the ice reflects strong light
• food and water, since options inside the park are limited and on the pricier side

At the moment Google lists the park at 8am–6pm every day. Those hours shift through the year, so the Parques Nacionales site has this month’s schedule.

Getting past the gate and the crowds

This is one of Argentina’s most visited parks, so plan around the tour buses. They mostly leave El Calafate after breakfast. Driving yourself and reaching the gate near opening usually gets you onto the lower walkways before the coach groups.

• Entry: a park fee is charged at the gate on Ruta 11. The current rate and accepted payment methods are posted on the official Parques Nacionales site. Check before leaving town, as you won’t find many cash machines past El Calafate.
• Keep the ticket. Some visitors who come back the next day can get a discounted re-entry if they show it, so ask at the gate.
• Stay on the walkways. Rangers enforce this. Waves from falling ice have injured people on the shoreline.
• Boats: the short “Safari Náutico” leaves from Bajo de las Sombras, below the walkways. It takes you right up to the face, and you buy tickets in town or at the dock.

In El Chaltén, the trails start at the edge of the village. You don’t pay at a gate there; just register your route at the visitor centre if you plan to camp.