Argentina Tours & Travel | Nahuel Huapi National Park
Established in 1934, Nahuel Huapi was Argentina's first national park. The conservationist/explorer Francisco Pascasio Moreno arrived in Patagonia from Buenos Aires in 1876 and twenty-seven years later donated 2,000 acres he had received from the government for his services to establish a public park. With Moreno's land as its nucleus, the park eventually expanded to the1.8 million acres it is today.
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Southern Explorations offers a five-day Patagonia Bariloche Tour extension that visits this famous ski resort town and Nahuel Huapi National Park. Highlights of our Bariloche area Argentina tours include hiking, river rafting and kayaking in the park.
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The park is located in the sub-Antarctic forest eco-region between the Patagonian plateau and the Andes in southwestern Neuquen Province and western Rio Negro Province. It is near the ski resort town of Bariloche and the village of Villa la Angostura. The park’s top sight to visit on Argentina tours is the 137,600-acre glacial lake from which it takes its name. Among its varied landscapes are high Andes, including 11,700-ft Mt. Tronador, arid Patagonian Andean forest, yellow and orange grasses of the Patagonian steppe. and at lower elevations, Valdivian forests. In spring, when the wildflowers bloom, the forests of the Nahuel Huapi become a colorful spectacle for visitors on Argentina tours.
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Wildlife in the park that birdwatchers look for when they travel to Argentina include a marine species of the cormorant, the imperial, Andean condors, the country's largest concentration of the critically endangered southern river otter species (huillin), the gopher-like tuco tuco, pumas, wolves, guanacos and Patagonian hare as well as the rarely-seen huemel and puda.
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Most of the indigenous peoples including the Tehuelches and Puhelches, who began inhabiting the region 10,000 years ago, were killed in the 1879-1883 immigrant settlement Desert Campaign.
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The park's varied climates, ranging from areas of permanent snow to Valdivian rainforest with 158 inches of rain, are something to keep in mind when you schedule your Argentina tours.
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Accommodations are plentiful for visitors on Patagonia tours, including camping zones, refugios and a variety of comfortable lodgings. The park allows fishing, water sports and cycling, and its 300 miles of marked trails range from short hikes to multi-day backpacking trips.
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For more information about visiting the Nahuel Huapi National Park on Argentina tours, email nahuelhuapi@apn.gov.ar
