El Chalten: The Hiking Capital of Argentina

El Chalten is an outdoor enthusiasts paradise. A town built for hiking, rock climbing, and adventuring into the surrounding mountains. The town is tiny, walkable from one end to the other in less than 30 minutes. It is full of cafes, cervecerías  (breweries), and outdoor gear shops, and the local trailheads leading into the surrounding mountains start right at the edge of the town.

  • As one would expect, the most popular thing to do in El Chalten is, well, hike
    • The most well known hike is to that of Fitz Roy
    • There are also gorgeous hikes to Laguna Torre, Mirador de Los Condores and Mirador Las Aguilas Hike of El Chalten
  • In addition to hike, there are multiple fun excursions which can be booked out of the town, such as
    • Rock climbing
    • Kayaking (more of a summertime thing)
    • Horseback riding
    • Glacier exploring
  • There is also good food to be found (and devoured after a long day of hiking) 

Built from our five day stay in El Chalten, I compiled a Google Maps link.

We arrived in El Chalten immediately after completing the W Trek in Torres Del Paine, which if you are interested in doing yourself, you can read everything you need to know to hike the W trek on your own. We chose a 5 day trekking adventure in Torres Del Paine and so by the time we arrived to El Chalten, we were pretty wiped. Therefore. We only did 2 hikes and one excursion. But we are lots of food and generally enjoyed the laid back outsoorsy friendly vibe of the town.

Here are our experiences with our adventures in El Chalten:

Horseback riding with Bonanza Adventure

  • 2 PM Picked up from reception in city and driven out into the country side with a group of ~12 people
  • Car parked around 2:25 PM we walk across a very shaky Bridge and Yuen towards the horses
  • Extremely windy and smells like horses
  • Told that it will be 1.5 hrs riding, then a short break for food and drink, then a 20 min ride back
    • My horses name: Nahuel
    • Tyler’s: Colo
  • Stunning views as we rode
  • Tasty snack of fried bread with jam and dulce de leche, tea and water in a cafe/house on the farm
  • On our way back we got to go a bit faster with our horses, which was fun
  • Pretty much a as soon as we discounted we grabbed our bags and walked back to the van
  • We were driving back to El Chalten by 5:20

Overall impression:

The scenery was gorgeous and the ranch was really nice. It appeared that people can rent little huts to stay in on the Ranch and there are parillas around the place for god. That being said, my one complaint is that the guachos guiding our trip did not talk a whole lot to us, so I did not feel like I learned anything. On prior horseback riding excursions I often learn about the history of houses in the country/region and their riders. The leader of our trip knew enough English to say basic things to us but I do not think the lack of explanations came from a language barrier because everyone else on the excursion spoke Spanish except for tyler and I and they did not speak more to the others than to us. I simply think it’s not a focus of the horse back riding excursion.

I wish I had learned more. I did ask a bit and I was told that the gaucho style of riding is very different to the English style.

Hiking to Laguna Torre

  • Laguna Torre doesn’t need to be hiked for sunrise
  • Mostly flat
  • Left around 11 AM and made it to the laguna by 1 PM
  • Super windy at the laguna itself but people have built shelters from driftwood and stone that you can hide in
  • Most of the hike there is split between super forested trails and woods open flat land filled with rocks
  • Trail has good signage and even advertises bathrooms near the lake (which turned out to be a shed with a hole in the floor (reminder for you to carry your own toilet paper)
  • The entire trail basically takes you through the valley and you’re surrounded by mountains on all sides
  • It is 9 km to get to the lake and then 9 km back for a total of 18 km or around 11 miles
  • Made it back down by 3
  • Completed the hike in 4 hours total but I was booking it

Overall impression: 

Except for it’s length (18km round trip) this hike is relatively easy because it is primarily flat. I didn’t think the view was overly stunning or breathtaking, so I’d only recommend this hike if you’ve already check off Fitz Roy. That being said, because I hiked it in fall, the changing colors of the trees made the path gorgeous and I enjoyed that.  

Hiking to Fitz Roy

  • Recommendations:
    • Check the weather
      • Use Windy
      • Or Windguru
      • Can’t go to the top if it’s too windy
    • Either wake up at 3:30 to hike to the top for sunrise, or 6 to hike to the viewpoint for sunrise
  • Fitzroy is the mountain that Patagonia uses in his logo
  • Therefore, this is a very popular trail
  • The trail is 10 km there in 10 km back or total 20 km or 12 miles round-trip
  • The beginning has some ups and downs, but it is fairly moderate and most can handle this
  • Around kilometer two or three you come upon a Mirador and you get to view Fitzroy
  • If you are pressed for time or not physically fit, I believe this view is gorgeous enough that if you do not complete the rest of the hike, it is OK
  • If you do choose to complete the hike, know that open till kilometer nine things are relatively flat. You hike through Valley crossing over Rivers every once in a while.
  • This hike takes a turn at kilometer nine. You’ll see a sign that tells you it will take an hour to hike the last kilometer. This is one hour there and one hour back, not one hour round-trip I made a mistake.
  • This last kilometer is straight up a steep mountain side that is exposed to nature
  • When I climbed the water had frozen and turned this section into ice stairs. Luckily I had no wind but others told me that on other days it is highly windy and you will be blown around as you climb up this mountain
    • Be careful when you hike back down this section as well
    • This section takes ~1 hour from the bottom to Fitz Roy
  • Should you make it you’ll come to the base of the lake with Fitz Roy behind it. It is gorgeous.

Overall impression: 

Definitely a must do in some form while you’re in El Chalten. If you have concerns of your fitness, I highly recommend you push yourself to at least the first viewpoint at the 4km mark. If you are fit enough keep going as you will continue to get ever increasingly better views of Fitz Roy, but if you can’t keep going you can feel good knowing you for the whole picture of Fitz Roy without destroying your body. Also, like I said, the kilometers between the first viewpoint and km 9 are relatively flat and not that bad. It’s that last kilometer which really gets you, so as you climb it take your time and just put one foot in front of the other.