Argentina Tours & Travel | Los Glaciares National Park
Los Glaciares National Park was established in 1937 to preserve an extensive glacier and continental ice field as well as southern Patagonian Andean forest and Patagonian steppe in Santa Cruz Province. The 1.5 million-acre park, an essential place to visit when you travel Patagonia on Argentina tours, borders Chile and is contiguous with two of Chile's most popular national parks, Bernardo O'Higgins and Torres del Paine. Besides the feature attraction, the Perito Moreno glacier, the park has pristine lakes, mountain peaks, rare plant and wildlife species and more glaciers. It also contains 3,000-year old rock paintings by the region's earliest inhabitants. In 1981, the park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and remains a very popular stop on Argentina tours.
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All of the Argentina tours that Southern Explorations offers to Southern Patagonia visit areas of Los Glaciares. These include eight of our lodge-based Patagonia tours, the seven-day Classic Patagonia trip, the nine-day Iguazu Falls & Patagonia trip, the ten-day Patagonia Highlights trip, the eleven-day Patagonia Hiking Adventure, the twelve-day Patagonia Hiking & Iguazu Falls trip, the thirteen-day Best of Argentina trip, the fourteen-day Patagonia & Wineries trip and the sixteen-day Patagonia Hiking Exploration trip. Seven of our trips that combine Chile and Argentina tours to Patagonia (Luxury Patagonia & Wineries, Australis Cruise & Patagonia Hiking, Australis Cruise & Patagonia Hiking Plus, Patagonian Lakes & Glaciers, Full Patagonia, Luxury Patagonia and Patagonia Hiking Panorama) visit Los Glaciares as well as and Torres del Paine National Park. To enable visitors to spend more time in Los Glacieres, we also offer six tour extensions in the park.
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In selecting one of our Argentina tours, you'll find that the itineraries offer different kinds of outdoor activities (some optional) including hiking, trekking, glacier hiking, bicycling kayaking, fishing and horseback riding.
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Five miles wide and 196 feet tall at its terminus, the park's signature glacier, Perito Moreno, regularly launches skyscraper-size chunks into Lake Argentino with thunderous splashes. The lake's other major glaciers and Lake Viedma are also on the itinerary of most visitors who travel Patagonia on Argentina tours to Glaciares, as is majestic 11,000-ft Mt. Fitz Roy and 10,280-ft Cerro Torre at the northwest tip of the park.
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The park's predominant forests are southern beech. The lenga, nire and coigue (or guindo), put on a stupendous autumn display. The park provides habitat to many wildlife species in danger of extinction. Geoffrey's cat and Andean deer that inhabit the sub-Antarctic forest are rarely seen. More commonly observed on Argentina tours are the red fox, puma and Andean condor.
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The park accommodates the most sedentary to the most energetic traveler on Argentina tours. Though hiking is the major pastime for visitors to the park (including on the glaciers themselves), some of its major attractions are reached by boat or other conveyance. While some areas are inundated with visitors, those seeking a wilderness experience on their Argentina tours will find one.
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Always windy, the weather in summer is warm and wet, and winters are cold. Most visitors stay in El Calafate near the south end of the park to be close to the Perito Moreno glacier, while others prefer El Chalten for its proximity to the northerly mountains. One way to experience the Perito Moreno glacier without the company of day-tourists when you travel to Argentina is to camp in the park.
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For more information about visiting Los Glaciares National Park when you travel Patagonia on Argentina tours, email losglaciares@apn.gov.ar
