Backcountry adventures in Patagonia

Patagonia is a place where the hiking trails go on forever if you let them. From the big box office destinations of Torres del Paine and Los Glaciares, to the new frontiers of Aysen and Tierra del Fuego, this is a region that demands heavy backpacks and tents in the wilderness, days away from anywhere.

Push yourself on the stiffest mountain passes in the Andes, wade through rivers in richly forest valleys, and be blasted by wind on the epic stage of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. These are no easy day walks followed by evening drinks at a cosy hotel bar – our multi-day backcountry treks are designed to test any hiker keen looking to reward themselves with the remotest but most sublime views of South America’s greatest mountains.

From the horsemen and women of the indigenous Tehuelche people, to the gauchos spending months in the saddle accompanying their herds, the people of Patagonia have always known that this is a supreme landscape to explore by horse.

Riding here is all about immersing yourself in the immense landscape – riding from estancias to glaciers deep in the wilderness, following half-forgotten cattle trails through the brush and pampas, and loading up your pack horses each morning to trek between isolated mountain valleys. You’ll brush down your mounts at the end of the day and sleep in rustic outposts far from civilisation in true gaucho style, with dinner served from a traditional iron range.

You don’t need a hiking trail when you’re out on a kayak: these are for experiencing the side of Patagonia that can’t be reached any other way than by water. This is a region braided with rivers and dotted with lakes – as well as an immense coastline – giving an almost limitless choice when it comes to exploring by water.

From a quiet campsite set wherever you pull your craft onto the beach, you’re free to see Patagonia in a completely new way: paddling near the ice that’s calved from the face of a glacier, seeing birdlife on the riverbanks and glide silently bay, or even encountering sea lions, dolphins and whales on their own territory – before being lulled to sleep by the sound of the water the next night and the next. 

Who wouldn’t go hiking in Patagonia and look up at the great ramparts of the Andes Mountains and ponder whether if they just climbed a little higher, the views wouldn’t be even more dramatic? Patagonia’s peaks are catnip to anyone in love with scrambling, climbing and accessorising their gear with carabiners and ice axes.

In the north of the region, the almost cartoonishly-shaped snowy volcanoes of the Chilean and Argentinian Lake Districts make perfect non-technical ascents, while further south, the granite peaks start to get serious, with longer expeditions required to tackle their majesty. But wherever you go, the adrenaline rush from standing on the roof of South America is a literal high.