Laguna de los Tres – El Chalten

The way up to Laguna de los Tres is among the most beautiful and toughest hikes from El Chalten. It is about 12km long one way ( 24km return ) which wouldn’t be a long hike in itself but there are 2 steep sections. Trekking websites indicate that the whole hike go and back should take between 8 and 10 hours. Well I managed to do it in just 6 hours. So if you are in good shape and like walking faster a little bit it will not take 8 or 10 hours to do this hike.

The first steep section starts at the first 40-60 minutes of the hike and the second steep section starts at the last 40-60 minutes. The second steep section is definitely much harder than the first one so rest a little before you go for it. The good news is you will be walking all the way down on the way back so there are no steep sections there.

I left at 6am as the weather were going to turn cloudy after 11am and I wanted to make sure that I get to the top while the sky is clear. The trail starts at the parking lot at the Northern end of town along with a few other trails.

There is a sign at every kilometer on the path, this way you can easily follow your progress and know how much you have left to walk.

On the way up you will pass by the Mirador Rio De Las Vueltas viewpoint which offers fabulous views over the Las Vueltas river. This mirador is about 30 minutes walk from the parking lot and many people only walk up until to this point.

Shortly after the viewpoint the path to Laguna de los Tres splits. The path going left will pass by Laguna Capri and the camping site called the same.  If you go on the right path will take you up to the Mirador del Fitz Roy which has fantastic views over the Fitz Roy mountain. You can continue walking up on any side and coming down the on the other as the map below indicates. If you are not looking to go up to the Laguna de Tres you can still do a round trip and see the viewpoint and Lagua Capri also shown on the map below.

I took the right path up and the left path down so I passed by the Mirador del Fitz Roy.

The path after the mirador will get a little more narrow.

You will pass by a the Rio Blanco river and you will have continuous views over Fitz Roy and the Glaciar Piedras Blancas.

Finally you will arrive to the Poincenot Camping which is free and it is just before the last steep section. You can also find restrooms here.

Shortly after the camping the last steep part begins, remember the water of the Rio Blanco is drinkable,  fill up here before the hardest section.

Now, the last part of your hike is starting, the last kilometer is about 1 hour long, all the way up and I can tell you it is not easy. It is extremely steep and you will probably swear around half way up that you will not ever come near El Chalten again, I know I did but trust me it worths the hassle. On the illustration below you will see the hill you have to climb to get to Laguna de los Tres…

…and on the photos below you can see how steep it really is.

… and this is the view waiting for you on top. Unfortunately the little lake was still frozen at the time I did the climb but it is still a beautiful view.

Walking down was much easier, I took the way down passing by Laguna Capri and the Laguna Capri camping.

… and I was glad to see the parking where the hike started.

Finally some information I didn’t find anywhere before I left:

• Bring a change of clothes and change on top. You will sweat like a pig by the time you get up there.
• Restrooms are only available at the 2 camping sites and right before the last steep segment.
• The water of Rio Blanco is drinkable and it is quite nice.