Excursions from Explora El Calafate

You climb Cerro Cristal to understand how water structures and shapes this territory. As you gain altitude, the landscape arranges itself before you: Lake Argentino, Lake Roca, and the Perito Moreno Glacier stand out by their colours and their origins, each telling a part of the region's glacial history.

Half-Day | Moderate | 4.5 miles (7.3 km)

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A full-day hike to a summit with open views over the glacial heart of the region. From the top, you can see the eastern face of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and its glaciers including the Perito Moreno Glacier and below, Lake Argentino, with that milky blue colour given by rock flour: the fine sediment ground out by advancing ice. The surroundings work as a summary of glacial work: moraines left behind as the ice retreated, meltwater rivers, and young forest growing on newly cleared terrain.

Full-Day | Advanced | 6.0 miles (9.6 km)

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You climb along the outer edge of the Magallanes Peninsula, gaining height above the Patagonian forest until you overlook the Rico Arm of Lake Argentino. From this privileged vantage point, the Perito Moreno Glacier appears in all its magnitude, revealing its origin in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. It is an exploration that combines the intimacy of the forest with the monumental scale of the ice, reminding you of the force that continues to shape this part of Patagonia. 

Full-Day | Advanced | 7.1 miles (11.5 km) 

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You sail toward one of the most remote sectors of Los Glaciares National Park, venturing into the South Arm of Lake Argentino. After landing, you make your way into the Patagonian forest until you reach the moraines shaped by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, those long scars of rock and sediment the ice left in its wake. Before you, the Cubo Glacier reveals glacial dynamics in their purest form: a little-explored territory where silence, water, and ice still set the rhythm of the landscape. 

Full-Day | Moderate | 7.1 miles (11.5 km)

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This is the most accessible exploration for contemplating the Perito Moreno Glacier. Along a system of gentle walkways, you visit various viewpoints and calmly take in the immensity of this wall of ice, alert to the roar of each calving. An exploration designed for those who seek time and serenity to admire one of the most impressive glaciers on the planet, at your own pace. 

Half-Day | Easy | 1.8 miles (2.9 km) 

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You sail along the Brazo Rico toward the Perito Moreno Glacier. You disembark to walk along its southern shore, drawing closer and closer to the wall of ice, and then sail again among the drifting icebergs broken off from the glacier. The route culminates at the famous walkways, from which you contemplate the glacier in full perspective. A complete exploration that lets you experience the Perito Moreno from the water, the land, and the heights. 

Half-Day | Easy | 1.2 miles (2 km) 

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You sail along a stretch of the Rico River toward the Perito Moreno Glacier, approaching it from a singular perspective. As the boat advances, the southern face of the glacier reveals itself: a wall of ancient ice rising from the water with a presence both silent and overwhelming. An exploration for those who seek to contemplate the glacier without intermediaries, from the water, at the unhurried rhythm of the lake. 

Half-Day | Easy

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You walk along the slopes of the Hoya del Chingue, a serene route that opens onto sweeping views of the pampa and Lake Argentino. As you advance, the town of El Calafate and its surroundings unfold in the distance, allowing you to understand the close relationship between human beings and the nature around them. An exploration that combines open horizons, the stillness of the steppe, and a glimpse of how life settles on the edge of this Patagonian landscape. 

Half-Day | Easy | 1.4 miles (2.2 km)

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On this exploration, you venture into the Hoya del Chingue area, a mountain range of sedimentary origin that holds an ancient history of the land. You walk along its ledges, reading the passage of time in the layers of rock, while views open toward El Calafate, Cerro Moyano, and Lake Argentino. It is a route that combines geology and sweeping panoramas, where each stratum tells how this landscape was, at different moments, sea, sediment, and finally mountain. 

Half-Day | Moderate | 5.6 miles (9 km)

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You explore Laguna Nimez, a small bird sanctuary on the shores of Lake Argentino. Walking its trails, you may discover flamingos and various diving birds that find refuge in this wetland, and you come to understand the close relationship between the water, the birds, and the town of El Calafate that grew beside it. A serene exploration, ideal for wildlife watching and for understanding how wild and human life coexist on the edge of the steppe. 

Half-Day | Easy | 1.9 miles (3 km)

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You visit Punta Walichu, an archaeological site on the shores of Lake Argentino that preserves the traces of the first inhabitants of this land. Its rock paintings (hands, figures, and marks left by hunter-gatherer groups) allow you to glimpse the way they understood and inhabited the Patagonian landscape long before the arrival of the settlers. An exploration that invites you to read the territory through time, recognizing in the rock the oldest memory of the region. 

Half-Day | Easy | 0.4 miles (0.7 km) 

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Cerro Moyano tints the surroundings with colour and rises as a natural lookout over the territory. You climb to its summit, reading in the rock the traces of a fiery past, until you reach a point where the landscape unfolds without limits: the pampa, Lake Argentino, and, in the distance, the border with Chile. An exploration that rewards the ascent with one of the most complete and singular panoramas in the area. 

Full-Day | Challenging | 10.3 miles (16.6 km) 

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You explore the surroundings of the hotel among erratic boulders, enormous rocks transported and abandoned by the glaciers as they retreated. These silent witnesses, out of place in the middle of the steppe, are proof of a territory in constant transformation. A nearby and accessible exploration that teaches you to read the traces of the ice in every detail of the landscape. 

Half-Day | Easy | 2.0 miles (3.2 km)

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You climb along the bank of the Chorrillo Malo, toward the plateau nearest the hotel. Upon reaching its ledge, the landscape unfolds in perspective: the surroundings of the hotel and the historic heart of the Chorrillo Malo estancia are revealed at your feet. From this privileged point you revisit the history of the place, which dates back to its founding in 1906, understanding how estancia life gradually shaped this Patagonian territory. An exploration that weaves together the traces of water, the breadth of the plateau, and the memory of more than a century of history. 

Half-Day | Moderate | 3.8 miles (6.1 km)

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You venture into the Magellanic forest, following the trails left over generations by the herds of bulls and cows that grazed on this estancia. Among the dense woodland you discover hidden nooks where the livestock found shelter from the Patagonian climate, corners that still hold the echo of ranching life. An exploration that interweaves nature and history, revealing how human beings and the forest shared this territory.  

Half-Day | Easy | 2.9 miles (4.7 km)

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You climb to the ledge of Cerro El Fraile in search of the same perspective with which the condors read this landscape. As you gain altitude, you find traces of their activity (feathers, roosts, and remains) and, with luck, you will see them gliding by your side, masters of the wind. An exploration that brings you closer to the most emblematic bird of the Andes and to the vast horizon it commands each day. 

Half-Day | Moderate | 3.7 miles (6 km)

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You set out from the hotel toward the southwest, heading for the border with Chile. Following the course of the Rico River, you walk through different ecosystems, from the pampa to the forest, until you reach the "backyard" of the estancia. From there, the Paine massif is revealed on the horizon, and you grasp how close you are to the boundary between the two countries. An exploration that brings together geography, history, and the feeling of advancing toward the edges of the territory. 

Full-Day | Moderate | 9.9 miles (16 km)

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Beside the hotel rises El Fraile, a hill whose geological formations tint the territory with colour. You climb its slopes, reading in the rock the layers that compose it, until you reach the summit. From the top, extraordinary views open up and, if luck is with you, you will make out some of the most iconic peaks of Patagonia outlined on the horizon. An exploration that rewards the effort with one of the most complete panoramas in the area. 

Full-Day | Challenging | 8.1 miles (13 km)  

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You ride at a walking pace through the pampas and grasslands near the hotel, advancing among boulders and calafate bushes. The route, serene and unhurried, culminates at a lookout with views of the Perito Moreno Glacier, which appears in the distance like a promise of ice. A horseback exploration, ideal for feeling the unhurried rhythm of the steppe.  

Half-Day | Easy | 3.4 miles (5.5 km)

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You cross the Chorrillo Malo toward the eastern sector of the estancia and gain some elevation to take in the landscape from a distance. You advance at a walking pace, unhurried, enjoying the views of the hotel, Cerro El Fraile, and the pampa that stretches to the horizon. A calm horseback ride that invites you to read the territory from the saddle, at the rhythm of the gauchos who rode it before. 

Half-Day | Easy | 2.3 miles (3.7 km)

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You ride up to the summer-pasture gate of the Chorrillo Malo estancia, the point where the movement of livestock between the main valley and the upper summer pastures was once controlled. From this place, steeped in ranching history, you begin the return toward the stables with a privileged view of the territory. A horseback exploration that combines estancia heritage and grand Patagonian panoramas. 

Half-Day | Easy | 3.8 miles (6.1 km) 

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You ride across sedimentary plateaus that, in a distant past, marked the level of the ancient Lake Buenos Aires. From this height, the landscape arranges itself in perspective: the hotel at your feet and, in the distance, the Perito Moreno Glacier emerging among the mountains. A horseback exploration that unites deep geology and broad horizons, reminding you how much this territory has changed over time. 

Half-Day | Moderate | 5.6 miles (9 km) 

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On horseback, you venture into the valley of the Rico River, an old route toward the border travelled by the gauchos on both lawful and unlawful crossings. As you leave the pampa behind and enter the valleys, the vegetation changes and the Patagonian forest envelops you, denser and more humid. An exploration that follows the traces of those who crossed these lands, reading in the landscape the transition between steppe and mountain. 

Half-Day | Moderate | 7.5 miles (12 km)

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You ride all the way around Cerro El Fraile, traversing the old Chorrillo Malo estancia just as the gauchos did in their work of tending the livestock. The landscape transforms without pause, from the pampas to the forest, and from the forest to the mountain, on a route that encompasses the full diversity of the territory. A horseback exploration that combines tradition, nature, and the unmistakable beauty of Patagonia. 

Full-Day | Challenging | 18.0 miles (29 km) 

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