Los Glaciares National Park

Los Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz Province protects a vast Patagonian landscape of ice fields, outlet glaciers, lakes and towering granite peaks. The park contains some of the most accessible and dramatic glaciers in South America, including the Perito Moreno Glacier and the Fitz Roy massif.

Viewpoints and boat trips on Lake Argentino give close access to the ice front of Perito Moreno, one of the park’s most visited glaciers and notable for periodic calving events. In the park’s western sector the granite towers around Mount Fitz Roy attract hikers and climbers, with marked trails radiating from the small base town of El Chaltén.

The area has long been used by indigenous Patagonian groups and later became a protected national park to conserve the ice fields, glaciers and unique mountain landscapes; it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its outstanding glacial and mountainous features.

Situated in southwestern Santa Cruz Province in Argentine Patagonia, the park extends from glacial lakes to the spine of the Andes and is accessed from towns such as El Calafate and El Chaltén.

• UNESCO and glaciers: Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the park protects large valley glaciers and the western edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, with multiple accessible glacier fronts including Perito Moreno.

What to See #

• Perito Moreno Glacier: Perito Moreno Glacier is a large, advancing ice front on Lake Argentino that remains one of the few major glaciers worldwide that is not in general retreat.
• Fitz Roy massif (Cerro Fitz Roy): The Fitz Roy massif (Cerro Fitz Roy) and adjacent needle peaks form a granite-dominated alpine area popular with mountaineers and photographed from the town of El Chaltén.
• Southern Patagonian Ice Field and outlet glaciers: A system of lakes, ice fields and outlet glaciers draining from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field that dominate the park's western sector.