Nature at its best. Los Glaciares National Park is the largest in Argentina. Located southwest of Santa Cruz, there are 726,927 hectares of continental ice and glaciers, forest and Patagonian steppe.

Unesco declared it World Natural Heritage in 1981 for its landscape of spectacular natural beauty and its glaciological and geomorphological interest. It was the first national park to achieve this distinction.

The Perito Moreno Glacier attracts travelers from all over the world. From the Ministry of Tourism of the Nation report that in January and February of 2017 already received 199,623 visitors, 0.7% more than last year. According to available data, it was the second most visited national park in that period and in 2016.

The Perito Moreno glacier prevails in the landscape: its front is 60 meters high, similar to a building of 20 floors or the Obelisk of the city of Buenos Aires.

The options to enjoy it are many. From contemplating the white landscape on the footbridges, to walking on the giant ice mass trekking on the Perito Moreno glacier.

You can also travel aboard a boat the lakes and watch huge ice walls parade: everything is impressive. In the park, in addition, there is the town of El Chaltén, which attracts trekking fans (it is the national capital of this activity) at the foot of Mount Chaltén or Fitz Roy.

The giant icebergs form silhouettes that resemble bridges, dykes or caverns that can be seen on different excursions.

This park offers a unique show in the world for its thunderous detachments and periodic breaks, especially the Perito Moreno.

Last year the tourists witnessed this spectacle of unparalleled nature: the break of the Perito Moreno glacier. It is an event that occurs periodically, which had last happened in 2012 and in 2008. The Ministry of Tourism transmitted it via streaming in 2016 and more than one million people followed it through this medium.

80 years ago, four more national parks were also created in Argentina: the Lanín National Park in Neuquén (in the photo); The Los Alerces National Park and the Lago Puelo National Park, both in Chubut, and the Perito Moreno National Park in Santa Cruz. Places with stunning landscapes that protect forests, lakes, rivers and a unique nature to discover.

Eighth wonder of the world, white purity, blue majesty, Perito Moreno captivates much more than looks, immediately obtains the mastery of all the senses of those who arrive to its environs, conquering his attention indefinitely.

Every murmur, every blow, every burst of cold, everything is impressive, indescribable and inexplicable when it comes to this icebox. Neither photographs nor films, nothing even resembles to be there when he comes off a bit and drops it to Lake Argentino, without the loss in any way affect its magnificence and perfection.

The city of El Calafate places at the head of its tourist board the visit to the Perito Moreno and other glaciers of similar charm present inside the National Park Los Glaciares. Impressive landscapes, vivid nature, these attractions serve as a center of attraction

Tourists, while the locality is prepared with so many alternatives, ready to catch them forever in the desire to return.

Wildlife and flora watching; Walks on trails of indescribable beauty more than conducive to throw themselves on effusive photographic safaris; Peaceful walks through enchanted places; Horseback riding on rugged paths or on smooth and quiet paths; Ice trekking in protected areas; Crossings in all-terrain vehicles to difficult-to-reach attractions; Fishing of excellent Patagonian salmonids in the various watercourses that cross El Calafate; Rafting on the Santa Cruz river; Mountain biking and quadricycles; Constitute a large part of the active proposal of this city without exhausting it in the slightest.

Los Glaciares National Park, created in 1937 to protect the icy wonders of nature, extends its area of ​​more than 600,000 hectares to the southwest of the province of Santa Cruz. Moving in a scenario made up of forests, mountains and lakes, this park is nevertheless recognized worldwide by the immense Patagonian ice field that claims the leading role in the whole territory.

Occupying almost half of the protected area, the Patagonian Continental Ice feeds 47 large glaciers, of which 13 descend to the Atlantic basin, and there are, besides this frozen mantle, about 200 smaller glaciers.

El Calafate, mother city of the legendary Argentine glacier, annually receives thousands of visitors determined to cross the Magellan peninsula to this ice miracle. Stuck in the Los Glaciares National Park, the Perito Moreno is undoubtedly the most accessible of the region’s snowmobiles, but it is not the only one. Other glaciers of great attractiveness dominate the protected area, standing out among them the Uppsala, Spegazzini, Onelli, Agassiz and Bolado.

To the dazzling beauty of its glaciers, is added the protection of a varied sample of native, wild and free fauna. Thus, the National Park is a redoubt of the huemul and the Andean deer, species in serious danger of extinction. For its part, the rugged charm of the steppe and the polychrome of the woods offer a changing and unique landscape that captivates the senses. Despite these magnificences, the park’s major importance is water, as these ice masses represent one of the largest reservoirs of drinking water in the world.

Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, with its challenging height for those who are passionate about climbing and its ideal spaces for sightings; And lakes such as Vieda and Argentino, are another of the attractions not to be missed in Los Glaciares National Park. Trekking on white and blue surfaces; Excursions lacustrine of approach to the moles of ice; Crossings; Contemplation from the footbridges that surround the Perito Moreno; And much adrenaline, this park is the ideal destination for restless and adventurous tourists.

How to get

From the north, you can access Los Glaciares National Park by taking National Route 3 to the city of Río Gallegos, from there you can continue along Provincial Route Nº 5, National Route Nº 40 and National Route Nº 11, and reach the city of El Calafate, distant 50Kilometres from the protected area.