Patagonia has no shortage of incredible scenery. From the volcano-dotted landscapes of Chile and Argentina’s Lake Districts, the spine of the Andes mountains with its glaciers, ancient forests and crinkled fjords, to the wild coastline at the southernmost tip of the Americas, this is a region made for adventure travel.
But which are the best places in Patagonia for dramatic vistas and wilderness exploration? In this article we run through our pick of the best national parks in Patagonia that welcome today’s generation of explorers.
Torres del Paine National Park
Torres del Paine in Chile is – by some degree – the most famous and visited national park in Patagonia. Its mountainous landscapes are instantly iconic, with the imposing granite towers that give the park its name, the jagged horn-like peaks of the Cuernos and the icy tongue of Glacier Grey.
The W Trek through Torres del Paine is one of South America’s most celebrated hikes, but there is more to the park than just this multi-day hike. Torres del Paine is an enormous park and contains plenty of off the beaten track hiking routes, as well as offering the chance to explore on horseback, mountain bike or even kayak among icebergs. If you want to get close to nature, the park is also the best place in the world for watching wild pumas.
Easily accessed via the gateway cities of Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas, with offerings like these, is it any surprise why Torres del Paine is so popular?
Los Glaciares National Park
Los Glaciares is the jewel in the crown of Argentina’s national parks. It’s home to the dizzyingly vast Perito Moreno Glacier. Seeing icebergs calve from its 70 metre high cliff face is an essential part of any trip to this region, with a variety of ways to experience the glacier, from ice-hiking on its surface to taking a boat trip (or even a kayak) on the icy lake it feeds into.
But Los Glaciares offers so much more. The relaxed mountain town of El Chaltén in the heart of the park and overlooked by the great crag of Mount FitzRoy is a paradise for hikers. Head out from here onto a host of incredible day hikes, or push yourself with the challenge of the Huemul Circuit that skirts the Southern Patagonian Ice Field itself.
Los Glaciares is reached through its gateway city of El Calafate – or is an easy trip by road in a day from Torres del Paine across the border in Chile.
Cerro Castillo National Park
Chile’s Aysen region is poised to be South America’s next big hiking destination, and when it does, Cerro Castillo National Park is going to be at the heart of everything.
Hiking in Cerro Castillo is like having your own private adventure playground. There are hardly any other trekkers about, leaving you free to enjoy rampart-like mountains, thick forests and turquoise lakes fed by glittering hanging glaciers. The Cerro Castillo trek takes four to five days of remote camping to see the highlights of the park, while other trails are better explored on horseback.
Cerro Castillo National Park sits astride the Carretera Austral highway, making it a great place for road trips, or you can fly into nearby Coyahaique. The park is also well-placed for kayak trips to the Marble Caves, one of Aysen’s other great highlights.
Tierra del Fuego National Park
Tierra del Fuego National Park is Argentina’s southernmost national park. It’s the place where the Pan-American highway finally runs out of road, having crossed the length of South America all the way from Colombia. It certainly feels like the end of the world when you get there.
The park is full of dark green forests and ragged mountain peaks, with well-marked trails threaded through the woods to emerge onto silent lakes or the waters of the Beagle Channel. The birdwatching in particular here is excellent, though the one creature you’ll see the most evidence of is the beaver. Escapees from a short lived experiment in fur farming after the Second World War, the felled trees they leave in their wake can be seen near many water courses.
Tierra del Fuego National Park is a short drive from the city of Ushuaia, Argentina’s gateway to Antarctica.
Patagonia National Park
Patagonia National Park in Aysen sets out its stall with its name: this is a place that encompasses the best of the region, from sweeping mountains and glaciers to forest valleys and open pampa. It was developed by Tompkins Conservation, who rewilded the former sheep ranches in the area before donating it to the nation. The Chacabuco Valley in the centre of the park is very rich in wildlife, from pumas and guanacos to a wide variety of birdlife.
Patagonia National Park has some great hiking trails, from picturesque day hiking routes to the remote Jeinimeni to Aviles trek, which spends three nights remote camping in the park in landscapes where you’re unlikely to see a single other hiker.
The main access point for Patagonia National Park is Coyhaique, with its small airport, though the park also sits on the Carretera Austral highway.
Alerce Andino National Park
Alerce Andino National Park is the starting point for the Route of the Parks, a network of parks that stretches all the way down the spine of Chilean Patagonia until the continent runs out of land in Tierra del Fuego. Ancient alerce trees dominate the landscape here – a type of South American redwood that can live for thousands of years.
The park is covered with mountainous temperate rainforest, with a sprinkling of pretty glacial lakes. Rain is the order of the day here: the park receives more rain than almost anywhere in Chile (as much as four metres a year) and as a consequence the landscape is a riot of vegetation. Lichen, ferns, mosses and mushrooms carpet the ground, making the hiking trails like passing through a green enamelled jewel box.
Alerce Andino National Park can be accessed through Puerto Montt, the main entrance point to the Chilean Lake District.
Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park
Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park sits at the northernmost limits of Chilean Patagonia in Los Lagos, Chile’s Lake District. The park is instantly recognisable in photos thanks to the Osorno Volcano on the shores of Lake Todos los Santos – a snowy peak so perfectly triangular you might imagine that a child drew it.
The park is threaded with great day hiking trails, but the real attraction of Vicente Pérez Rosales is getting out on the water – kayaking, rafting on the Petrohué river or even lazily casting for trout in some of the prettiest scenery for fishing imaginable.
The entry point for Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park is the lakeside town of Puerto Varas, which has some wonderful mountain biking trails, including to nearby Llanquihue and Frutillar, which are famed for their microbreweries. The park is also part of the cross-border Cruce Andino route, which takes a series of ferries and buses to travel between Puerto Varas and Bariloche in Argentina.
Lanín National Park
Lanín National Park gets its name from the imposing snowy mass of the long-dormant Lanín Volcano, that broods over some of the most rugged landscape in the Argentinian Lake District. It’s also the only national park in the country that’s co-managed by indigenous people – the Mapuche, whose territory the park covers.
Lanín is a hiker’s paradise, offering the chance to wild camp in some locations that feel truly far from civilization. The landscape is particularly varied, with open grassland and lakes, and forests of araucaria (monkey puzzle trees) that give the park a weirdly ancient feel: you almost feel as if you might spot a dinosaur here.
With a pair of crampons and an ice axe, it’s possible to climb Lanín Volcano itself in two days. No experience is necessary, but you’ll need to be fit and take a guide to instruct in the art of ice walking.
The main entry point for Lanín National Park is the Lake District town of San Martín de los Andes.
Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park
Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park, or Pumalín as most people call it, is one of Chile’s most beautiful national parks. It’s one of Chile’s newest national parks and is the product of an epic rewilding project, having been bought as private land and developed by Tompkins Conservation before being donated to the Chilean state.
The park is thickly forested, with a tremendously rich and offers tremendous day hikes, including to the crater of the still smoking Chaitén volcano and the Amarillo Glacier. The edge of the park is also defined by the wooded crinkles of the northern Chilean Fjords, where you can take the waters and paddle to remote waterfalls and sea lion colonies.
Pumalín’s main entrance point is the town of Chaitén, which has an aerodrome served by small plane flights from Puerto Montt in the Lake District.
Nahuel Huapi National Park
Nahuel Huapi National Park is the green heart of the Argentinian Lake District, with raw mountains and immense finger-like glacial lakes.
The park is a year-round destination. In the warmer months, the lakes, slopes and forest are a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts. The Cerro Catedral and Cerro Tronador treks, hiking between mountain huts, is a particularly great way to explore the national park. Kayakers can paddle on the immense Lake Nahuel Huapi itself or take the waters of the gemlike Lake Perito Moreno. In winter, when the mountains are dressed in snow, skiers and snowboarders flock to the park.
Bariloche, Argentina’s winter sports and chocolate capital, is the gateway to Nahuel Huapi National Park. From here, you can follow the scenic Route of the Seven Lakes road to San Martín de Los Andes, a hub for adventure sports enthusiasts.
Cabo de Hornos National Park
We’ve chosen Cabo De Hornos National Park at the last one in our list deliberately as it’s the most southerly national park in the world. Head any further south and there’s no land at all until you reach Antarctica.
The park is perhaps more easily recognised by its English language name: Cape Horn. The park covers the small cluster of islands that lie around Cape Horn, though visitors on adventure cruises themselves tend only to land on the eponymous island itself. Those that manage to do so are rewarded by the sense of achievement in safely stepping foot on a spit of land that was feared by sailors for hundreds of years. Celebrate by taking a selfie at the Cape Horn monument with its immense wandering albatross, and hike to what could be one of the loneliest and storm-swept lighthouses in the world.
Want to visit?
When it comes to exploring Patagonia’s national parks, you’re spoiled for choice. But here at Swoop Patagonia, we’ve visited all of these parks and more. Our team of experts has a passion for exploring the region, and many of them are former guides and still live locally. If this whistle stop tour has you wanting to start planning a trip here, get in touch with our team today.
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